Promises Made
by Vera Kate
Summary: Things are not well in Badger Lake. Derek and Chloe are on the run but there seems to be an ever increasing count of whom they are running from. Can they trust anyone? When an offer comes to them from the most unlikely of sources, offering them the knowledge that they need in order to survive, can they take it in good faith? Will they be able to hold up the promises that they made?
1. Promises

**A/N:** Thank you so much for clicking! This is _Promises Made_. There are four prequels to this that I highly encourage you to read (it isn't necessary, but it helps set the scene and the backstory), they are: _Like Magic_, _Do No Harm_, _Casting Eyes_, and _Abracadabra_. You can find all of these listed on my profile.

**Edit:** There are more prequels! The order, as of 7/2014 is: _Like Magic, Do No Harm, New Order, Casting Eyes, Guiding Light, Dark Ways Return,_ and _Abracadabra_.

For those of you who are familiar with the grander universe of _Women of the Otherworld_, you will see familiar faces! If you're not, don't fret. Since our characters are also meeting them for the first time, you'll be properly introduced. If you haven't read them, I suggest that you do! It is a massive series (filled with both books and novellas/short stories – check out Kelley's website for the proper order) that I read simply because I wanted to tell a bigger _Darkest Powers_ story.

This story is sticking as close to the books and novellas/short stories (the stories in the _Darkest Powers Bonus Pack_ and _Bonus Pack 2) _as I can. So everything that has happened up to _The Rising_ is included in the _Darkest Powers/Rising_ series. In regard to timeline of _Women of the Otherworld_, it does go up to and involve Kelley's latest release, _Brazen_. I imagine it'll be considered AU once Kelley posts her new Chloe story this May, but there is no shame in having some fun until then.

A huge shout out to **random-k** for going over this chapter and tolerating my love of improper usage of dashes. Check out her stories!

Be sure to check out my note at the bottom!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the _Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the Otherworld_ series.

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><p>Chapter 1: Promises<p>

_Badger Lake: our oasis in a seemingly never ending desert. A small town, if it could even be called that, filled with people like us; supernaturals and those aware of the supernatural. Isolated from society, it provided a safe haven for maturing teens that might have an odd quirk, such as: casting spells when it turns out they bombed a history test, turning into a werewolf under extreme stress, or raising the dead when they try to grab a quick nap. We had it made, literally. Badger Lake? It was founded for us._

_It was a rough journey to get there and even now, still defies reason as to why we even agreed to it. We agreed to live in Badger Lake as part of a deal – a deal that transferred the responsibility of us from one Cabal to another._

_We were stuck between a rock and a hard place._

_We had been on the run for months from the Edison Group when we had a much unexpected run in with a group of teenage supernaturals from Project Phoenix. Together, we had become an even larger target for the Cabals and I'm sure a few others in-between._

_We couldn't run forever. It sure was tempting to try – especially considering that the Edison Group had stepped up from using tranquilizer darts to bullets in our last few run-ins. We had made a significant hit to the Edison Group a few months prior when we had our series of captured, escape, re-captured, and escape- again-but-eliminating-key-upper-Edison-Group personnel-en-route adventure. The only problem was that the Edison Group was just the first level. We weren't ready to go past that. We needed time, experience, and more supernaturals._

_But, Badger Lake was supposed to be different. It was to right all of the wrongs that had been done to us by the St. Cloud Cabal, and inspire us to continue to cooperate with the Nast Cabal. In an ideal situation, we would work for the Nast Cabal – doing exactly what was a mystery. _

"Chloe?"

Her head looked up from her pen and paper, dark circles under her eyes. She looked as though it had been weeks since she had a good night's sleep.

"What are you doing?"

Her eyes flitted back to the paper. There was so much to put down, so much information to preserve, to ensure that it was not forgotten or even worse, distorted. It was important to get everything out in the open, documented, to make sure that the truth did not become twisted should their side not prevail. So much had changed in the past few years of her – _their_ – lives. From learning about being a supernatural, to a genetically modified supernatural, having trouble keeping track of who can trust whom, to the most recent betrayal, to who the bad guys where when compared to other bad guys. It just kept spiraling downward, becoming more and more complex.

"Pet project," she smiled. She knew that the voice wouldn't accept that as an answer. Maybe it would have worked years ago when they had first met, but that felt like five lifetimes ago.

"Care to share?" The words asked the questions whereas the tone demanded answers. He walked from the doorway into the room, walking towards her.

"I just," she started. She paused and bit the bottom of her lip. _How to explain this?_ "I j-j-just thought that it would be a good idea to put everything down on paper. I think it's important that we can look at everything objectively, you know? Sometimes memories can get confusing and with everything…," she drifted off again.

He nodded. It would be a good idea to have everything written down. It would also be an extremely dangerous one if it should ever be misplaced.

"I checked the area – you're okay," he said. A nightly ritual that lately had not been too much use. Chloe barely slept these days. She was usually chasing some idea or another, something to keep the dreams at bay. "Can you at least try to sleep tonight?"

She turned around to look at him. She didn't need to use words to communicate with him. It didn't matter that he checked the area, there were some things that he couldn't feel, couldn't sense. While there may not be any fresh, or not-that-fresh bodies lying about, there were always spirits. It wasn't a matter of location; it was a matter of her. Her glow was too strong to be fully masked. They had tried different ways of hiding it but it was never enough. Even a slight glow would catch the attention of someone and once they were close enough, they could sometimes sense that the glow was being repressed. There had been instances where it had turned out very poorly for Chloe. No matter how hard she tried, she would have to face the spirit and do something about it.

"Please?"

She ran her hands through her hair – a nervous habit she had picked up from him. She was tired, she could feel her body wanting to give up and rest. She knew that under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be as patient. Instead of asking, it would be barking orders. Instead of asking her to go somewhere, if she protested too much, he'd simply pick her up and take her there.

"I want too," she whispered, her eyes flitting up at him, asking him not to press the issue any further. "You know we can't risk it."

"We can't risk you passing out either," he argued, tone firming. His body language was tensing, anticipating resistance.

She turned back around and looked at her paper. There was so much more work to do before all of the facts were out in the open. Would there be enough time? They had been living on borrowed time for so long, it seemed like any minute the other shoe could drop and it would all be over. Rest – it was tempting.

"A few hours," she relented, her body sagging as she gave up the fight. "Everything is in place?" He nodded. "Just a few hours, you need to sleep too."

Chloe stood up and steadied herself on the chair. She closed her eyes and took in a breath. What time was it? Two? Three? Noon? She composed herself and left the room, walking towards the bedroom. She eyed the floor, walls, ceiling – all of the proper runes were there. She clutched her pendant instinctively. It was her final barrier of defense, the one thing of hers' that she still had. It wasn't the same necklace that her mother gave her – not really. She had replaced the chain and the pendant had gone from a ruby red, to purple, to blue, and finally to a light blue. No one had been able to explain it.

She lowered herself onto the bed, not bothering changing out of her clothes. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

He followed her into the room and grinned slyly to see that she was asleep. It was quickly replaced by a look of worry and concern. They both knew that she needed rest. The only problem was that sleep was never guaranteed to be restful for her. He clenched his jaw, not liking the helpless situation he was in. He definitely preferred a problem that he could take action against and to an extent, he could with this. He could check out the area, ensure the proper runes were in place, continue to do more research, but he couldn't fight an enemy he couldn't see.

He left the room to continue his patrol. He had switched out one concern for a bigger worry.

* * *

><p>Chloe opened her eyes. Her body ached, stiff from being in one position too long. She looked around the room. It was empty. She grinned and yawned, it had been a long time since that happened. She sat up and stretched, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror.<p>

She desperately needed to clean up.

She raffled through a pile of clothes, examining a few to check for smells and if there were any major rips or tears. She grabbed some that passed the test and headed towards the bathroom.

She showered quickly and got dressed. She was in the middle of brushing her teeth when there was a knock. She opened the door, not missing a brushstroke. She raised her eyebrow, letting her face do the questioning.

"I was just checking to make sure you were almost done," he said. "Breakfast is ready, so whenever you're ready."

She turned back to the sink to spit out the toothpaste and rolled her eyes. Cereal rarely took long to prepare.

She went into the kitchen and sat down. She eyed the room and looked into the connecting living room. It was by all means a nice house. It was much nicer than what she expected when they left Badger Lake. Their previous time on the run involved run down motels, houses that the wind cut through, not to mention unreliable power and water. This was definitely a step up in that aspect, but she would have traded the luxuries if it meant everyone was together.

She went through it, and still felt like a blur to her.

Derek had roughly woken her up, telling her that she needed to grab only the true essentials and they needed to get out of Badger Lake. She had started to ask about the others, Tori, Maya, Daniel, Simon and Kit, but Derek just grimaced and urged her to focus on what was going on right now.

Something happened, something that only Derek knew and had not shared. She knew that if Simon, Kit, and Tori – Derek's family – weren't there, it was really bad. She knew that something definitely unexpected must have happened; otherwise she figured that Derek would have stopped it. A twinge of guilt went through her. She knew that he wasn't superman, he was indeed bone and flesh, but Derek was more than that too. He was a werewolf – a genetically modified, super strong, super smart werewolf. He wouldn't have abandoned his brother, his sister, his dad – his pack – if it hadn't been under extreme circumstances. Chloe still couldn't believe that it was just the two of them. Another twinge of guilt – even though she knew she was part of the pack, part of her questioned if the reason they had been able to get away was because of how things had been changing. Was it because she was now 'ranked higher' in his pack? Or was his pack primarily just the two of them now? She knew that things had been shifting; they had been together for several years now. Things seemed to escalate once everyone else went off to their respective universities and Derek decided to stay behind with her.

Was it possible that Derek let something happen to his family in order to get them – _her _ – away?

"How did you sleep," Derek asked, snapping her out of her mind. He too looked tired. His hair was lanky, face slightly tense. She knew that he was listening, smelling, trying to engage all his senses to know instantly if something changed.

"I," she started, smiling, "slept great. I guess the trick is to go without sleep as long as you'll let me."

Derek grunted, clearly not impressed with her reasoning.

Her eyes wandered back to the house. It was a scar from the great real estate bubble burst. This had been a high end luxury home with amenities that Chloe had never seen, not even in the penthouses and apartments she grew up in. Somehow, the power company never turned off the electricity and neither the city the water. Or maybe it was still in foreclosure or stuck between banks? She never really paid that much attention to things of that nature when she had the option. She was lost in her own teenage world much like most teenagers. Movies – now that was where her heart truly was – old movies new movies, good movies, and especially the bad movies. There was nothing like watching a bad movie with a tub of popcorn and good friends. Was that only a handful of years ago?

"You know what I miss?"

Derek paused, spoon in midair. His eyebrows shot up, disappearing behind his bangs.

"Halloween, Halloween movies, monster movies, _especially_ bad monster movie," Chloe blurted out.

Derek shifted uneasily, still taken by surprise. "Well," he started, "I can't say I get it. But it'll be late October soon enough. Maybe you'll run into the big bad wolf."

Chloe laughed. Of course Derek wouldn't understand, not really. He had spent the first five years of his life in a laboratory. Kit Bae took him in and raised him as his own, along with his own son Simon. They never lived in a place for very long. Kit and Simon were sorcerers and with Derek being a werewolf, Kit deemed it best that they never stayed in a place too long. Kit had his own reasons for moving too, he had left the Edison Group on less than stellar terms. He and Simon had grown up knowing what they were – a werewolf and sorcerer respectively. Growing up knowing that and then having a holiday where people dressed up as versions of "you" didn't seem the best way to endear someone to enjoying

Halloween.

Derek smiled; it had been a long time since he was able to make her laugh. Way too long.

"I imagine I'll see him before that. I used to wish that I could disappear into movies," she trailed off, still smiling. "Although I guess I should have been a bit more specific on what kind of movie. Our lives – Halloween all day every day."

Derek shook his head, noting that her jovial tone had turned somber. "So, you won't dress up as little red riding hood?"

"Only if it's the Grimms Brothers' version."

Derek shrugged.

"Well then – I'll request that you make sure you keep your muscles stretched out. I'd hate to have chewy meat."

Derek whipped his head to look at her. Man-eating? Chloe? Under normal circumstances, the joking between two people of cannibalizing the other would be a bit twisted. With a werewolf in question, it could lead to a very messy end for both parties.

"I thought you had read that as part of your werewolf folklore. You know, don't trust girls in woods that wear a red cape unless you want to turn into stew."

Derek shrugged. Suddenly he turned his head, focusing on something off in the distance. Chloe watched him, pausing her breakfast. Her heart rate picked up, not knowing if this was _it_ or if they would have time to grab what little that they had and still make a getaway. All of the tension that had been slowly evaporating from the room came crashing back in.

"False alarm," he exhaled.

Chloe ran her fingers through her hair, waiting an explanation.

"Just people headed to work. I thought the house three doors down was temporarily empty, like they were on vacation but I guess they just turn in early."

They finished the rest of their breakfast in silence.

* * *

><p>Chloe re-read her notes from last night. Why it had never occurred to her to put everything down on paper before escaped her. It would have made certain things much easier, wouldn't it? Would they have been able to see potential allies better? Traitors? Would any of this make sense?<p>

Derek was somewhere else in the house, probably checking all of the locks and finding new escape routes from each room.

She picked up her pen again.

_Despite our initial reservations about working with the Nasts, we relaxed. It took a while, but once a year rolled by without any one being "exterminated" or "taken care of", it seemed like it might be true. We had others come to us – a few more late bloomers from Project Phoenix, and a few that weren't part of the experiments at all. Just teenagers that happened to have a bit of extraordinary DNA._

_Part of the deal was that in the village, we would have access to mentors, books, and a chance to experiment. We needed to know what the Edison Group had done and how that had manifested in us. Once we turned 18, we would be free to go, to stay, to seek employment if we so wished. Some of us had more knowledge than others. Tori had a file that was easily five times the size of anyone else's. Her mother had been a key person in the Edison Group and thus, she had a detailed summary when something even remotely magical happened around her. Derek's file was the closest in size – although his ended when he was five. If Kit had kept notes as tedious as the ones in his first few years, it would have easily been doubled Tori's._

_As our group finished schooling, virtually all went to the university of their choice._

_Not all._

_I had to stay behind. Derek had already waited a year for me to finish my schooling. He decided he wouldn't leave until I was able too._

_Lots of promises were made._

_I don't know how many they kept._

Chloe looked at the sheet again. If she knew what kind of ending she was writing for this, it would make things easier. Would it be clearer if she knew why Derek had them flee in the middle of the night?

She called for Derek, asking him to come and talk to her.

"I need to know what is going on."

Derek sank into the couch, looking over at the table where Chloe sat.

"Are you sure?"

Silence.

"They backed out of the deal," Derek said quietly.

When they first arrived to Badger Lake, they – Simon, Derek, Tori and Chloe – made a deal. If something seemed _off_ to one of them, the rest of them would agree to take off, no questions asked. The first six months had been especially tense. They were looking at everything, listening to what was being said and more importantly, what wasn't. They went over every interaction they were a part of and were witness too. In all of their vigilance, they never found something that set off their internal alarms. Their guards went down slowly. They began having longer chats with the Phoenix group, being more truthful with the doctors or trainers. Emergency bags were taken back from different hiding spots around the town. Chloe didn't unpack the bag she kept in the back of her closet. She couldn't – she knew that if she did, it would hurt Derek.

"I don't understand."

"I don't either," his voice lowered, taking on a gruff sound. "Simon didn't even keep one bag packed. Not one. Tori was the same – only, she waited a little longer."

"Yeah, but they could have thrown something –"

"No," Derek harshly interrupted. "They couldn't, I mean they didn't want to. They said that they wanted to stay. They've been out in the world; they've been away from all of this for too long. Said I was paranoid, overreacting, and looking for a reason to bolt."

Chloe sat there in stunned silence. Finally her brain jolted back into action. "Why did we leave? Why did they think it wasn't a big deal to stay? What about Kit? I can't imagine he'd be okay with you and Simon splitting up, or you and him splitting up, or anyone splitting up like this. We've all been through so much together."

Derek nodded, his eyes transfixed to the hardwood floor.

"What was it? I mean, we really haven't talked much the past . . . beyond the essentials."

There hadn't been much talking going on between them lately. There simply had been too much to do; getting out of reach of the Nasts, making sure they weren't being tracked, going from town to town, trying to find a spot that would let them rest. Looking at the different bus routes and not having an end destination, made the stress even worse. What if they chose the wrong way to go? What if they were going towards a trap? Ultimately, they ended on a bus going to Beaupré, a small town located in eastern Quebec. Derek had found the house on the outskirts of the town, with a national park not too far from their backyard. It was a gamble. It would provide a great escape route, but it could also lead to them being trapped or being ambushed. It was the better option than being stuck in town, surrounded by people who were blissfully unaware of what creatures lived amongst them.

"Sean is dead. They don't want word getting out about it and they've made him up into such a figure that people wouldn't believe he was dead anyway. But he's dead – I know he is – I smelt him, rotting. He was coming here – I mean, _there_ – to check on the progress of everyone; I think. My guess is that either another Cabal finally found the opening they were looking for, or someone in the family wanted to get rid of him. That is what makes sense to me – but it might be something else, something entirely different. Like," he paused, weighing his words heavily before venomously spitting out, "the Edison Group wanting their toys back."

What little color she had in her face drained out quickly. Her breath quickened, her chest picking up speed rising and falling.

Derek got to his feet and kneeled in front of her. He took her hands and rubbed them with his thumbs. "Chloe, please, you need to slow your breathing down. You ready? It'll be just like before. Take a deep breath in," he paused as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "and I want you to visualize the movie theater. You're sitting next to me, we're holding hands, and the lights are starting to dim. The movie is about to start, and now breathe out."

Her eyes remained closed, as she exhaled; expelling the carbon dioxide from her chest. Without prompting, she took in a few more deep breaths, each time holding them a little less. She opened her eyes, her eyelids feeling heavy even though it was only mid-afternoon. She gave him a weak smile, showing that she was okay.

"You did great," he muttered, still rubbing her hands with his thumbs. "Everything is fine. Everything worked just like it was supposed to." He smiled up at her, noting that what energy she had a few minutes ago had evaporated. "I'm sorry; I should have said it differently. Its just I – I'm still grappling with everything and I should have known better."

He tucked a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. He stood, picked her up, and carefully took her back to the bedroom. He set her down on the bed and went over to her bag and pulled out a tea bag. He grabbed a mug from the bedside table and went into the bathroom to fill it up. Going back to the kitchen would take too much time; she needed the tea as soon as he could get it into her.

He hurried back to the bed; Chloe had pushed herself up into a sitting position. She gave a nod of thanks as she eagerly drank the contents of the mug. He took it back from her once she was done and she slid down the bed, the tea making her drowsy.

He watched her, as her eyes stopped fluttering and finally stayed shut, and her breath settled into a regular pattern. He headed towards the door, mug in tow, when she suddenly called to him.

"Stay with me," she said, no louder than a whisper but to him it was as though she was shouting it from the rooftops for all to hear.

He turned around to look at her; he could see the tension in her face, as she fought to keep her eyes open. He wordlessly turned back, put the mug back on the stand and got into bed beside her. He pulled her close to him, burying his face in her hair.

It had been a long time since they were this close. It wasn't a matter of them not wanting to be close, but they had to be careful and mindful of what could happen. Chloe's powers still were volatile; they never evened out like the Nasts predicted they would. She needed to be quiet and calm. They could handle the quiet, but they never really could quite master the calm when they were in close proximity. The first time it happened, Derek would swear to the day that he died, that the amount of spirits and whatever else was so loud that he could hear it; he could feel the electricity, he could feel the temperature of the room dropping, the air circulation increasing.

The doctors came, along with several necromancers, witches, and sorcerers in tow. He didn't know how long it took – _too long_ – for all of them to remove the spirits that Chloe had summoned in an instant. Since then, their interactions were heavily monitored. They had tried a few times in a controlled setting – a lab in one of the medical facilities with staff on standby should there be a repeat – but while it wasn't as severe as the first, it was still uncontrollable. He noticed that her pendant had changed color again – it had been stable for years up until that point. He didn't mention it to the doctors. His gut told him that would be something he would have to find out on his own.

The first time had been the last time that he had kissed her – _really _kissed her. In the months that passed, occasionally he'd be bold enough to ever so quickly give her a quick peck on the cheek, but nothing more.

He remembered how strange it was; sitting in the office, listening to how volatile and dangerous someone was and the subject was not him. He should have been the danger – he was the 6 foot 4 inch, 220 pound werewolf – someone people mistook as some sort of professional football player or a guy on steroids. He looked, or he assumed, like a guy that was into less than legal activities based on how people reacted to him. How could Chloe be the dangerous one? She was a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than him, not to mention the innocent big blue eyes and blonde hair. On a windy day, she could be in danger of flying away. The biggest danger she should present to anyone was annoying them or maybe being underfoot.

He remembered how she looked as though she wasn't hearing anything, as though she was in a daze. His logical and fact seeking brain wouldn't let him escape the situation. He had to listen how they just could not work as a couple, how –given time – they might be able to reconsider being friends, but only meeting in large groups. They doubted that they could have any safe, meaningful time alone. Ever. The meeting lasted an eternity; listening to how everything he had envisioned for the two of them, go up in smoke. They would be _lucky_ to someday become friends?

That was three years ago.

They didn't believe the doctors. It just didn't make sense. It was a fluke – things had simply been exaggerated – and the doctors weren't sure of their powers so they wanted to cap them off where they felt comfortable dealing with them. They continued to see each other and even continued to date, despite repeated meetings urging Derek to break it off. They tried once with Chloe and it did not end well. She spent the next week asleep.

Even Kit had started giving nudging hints a year after the incident. Talking about how the future held so many different possibilities, that he shouldn't limit himself to the first girl that ever expressed interest in him, how it wasn't fair to either of them. Fair: that was a loaded word that Derek knew didn't apply to any of them. None of them had signed up to be part of a genetic experiment; the entire blame lay with their parents. Kit suggesting that Derek simply _move on_ stung. They had talked a lot about werewolves and their traits. Moving on simply wasn't an option for Derek, there would be no other girls; there simply couldn't. Sure, he could try and see where things went with someone else, but even considering it made him nauseated. It wasn't unheard of a werewolf finding a non-werewolf mate, according to their so-called werewolf expert. There were a handful of records indicating that it was possible, especially since up until a handful of years ago, there was only one female werewolf in existence. Most of the records suggested that it didn't end well, mostly because it _was_ a werewolf-human relationship. Their expert didn't have any sort of record about a relationship with another supernatural. Derek didn't think much about their "expert". The only new knowledge that Derek had received from him was about the "werewolf mate" concept – and he suspected that the only reason he was able to get that was because of the incident. Just another voice making the _suggestion_ that they were doomed and he should throw in the towel.

Derek still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that such a mate concept existed in the first place. If it did, it certainly would have trouble logically since typically mates are the same – for example, two penguins, two swans, two gibbons, two humans. Since female werewolves were virtually non-existent, it did call into question how a werewolf could find a 'mate' in something that was unlike itself. It made sense that werewolves had tried to make relationships work with humans – especially considering the lack of female werewolves – and similarly, he reasoned that the relationships ending could be chalked up to anything that would be typical in a strictly human relationship. It sounded like something that they thought sounded legitimate enough, much like how they initially stressed that he should only Change on a monthly basis. That didn't go over very well. He had given it two attempts, but by the end of a week and a half, his body forced it. He found that at minimum he should Change once a week, but ideally twice. He used to be fine with the weekly, but like so many other things three years ago, things had to be accommodated.

And logically, why would they tell him about the concept and then tell him that he needed to start seeing other people? If the concept was correct, did that mean Chloe was his mate? Or was she not? Or did it not matter at all and things were still subject to free will? Or was he trying to will it to be true? It simply didn't make sense – unless perhaps they never intended to tell him about it. Perhaps he was never supposed to find out about it.

He wrestled with it for a few months before giving up. Free will is what he decided. He couldn't hold himself or Chloe to a concept that might not be true. Even if it was true, he didn't know how it could be proven. How could it be tested? Should they have simply broken up three years ago and see how they felt afterwards? Heartache was heartache. He had seen Simon and Tori go through it multiple times. Sometimes their heartache lingered for weeks; other times it lingered for months. Breaking up to see how long it hurt could be some sort of test. Bu wouldn't it defeat the whole purpose of the test? What good are the results if they can't be replicated? How many times would they have to break up? Wouldn't breaking up for the sake of breaking up defeat the whole purpose of seeing how long the pain lasted, knowing it was all just temporary?

It was too complicated. Mythology had its place in their world, but surely they had control over their emotions. Free will. It had to come down to that. If they couldn't make choices concerning that, what type of decisions could they make? It had to be due to free will, independent choices. Despite his urgency to believe it, his gut still tugged that it was something more than that.

Chloe didn't know about the concept. Derek had kept it to himself and planned on keeping it to himself.

Despite this, they ignored the doctors' orders – even Chloe's Aunt Lauren's. That had been another eventful day. Aunt Lauren had reminded Chloe again of the _situation_ and how it would just be better for everyone if Derek was no longer in their lives. Lauren had never particularly cared for Derek and this cemented her feelings. The last time Chloe and Lauren talked, it ended very badly. Chloe was given her own residence, away from the rest of the town. Lauren stayed in the house that they once shared but did not go and visit her formerly beloved niece. Derek wasn't even sure when the last time they had any sort of meaningful interaction. He had never been able to get her to talk to him about that last fight.

With Chloe's residence being on the opposite side of town – and not by accident, Derek supposed as the house he shared with his family was on the edge of the forest – their time was limited. Derek didn't sleep well the first few months – he'd wake up periodically in the night to walk to Chloe's house and check the woods. Chloe had been furious with him the first time she caught him. She had suspected that he simply wasn't sleeping well; he always seemed tired, a little distant, and not quite as alert as he normally was. When she went out in the deck – during a mild snowstorm too – and saw him walking on the edge of the trees, she was furious at him. After the fifth time she caught him, she proposed a solution. While he officially lived with Kit, Simon and Tori, he would spend the nights at her house. He had his own bedroom next to Chloe's. While it wasn't ideal for their preferences, it seemed to be the best that they could manage. Even with a wall separating them, she was close enough that he found that he didn't need to patrol the woods multiple times a night. Chloe seemed to sleep better too, if only for the fact that if she heard something in the night, it was now more likely Derek grabbing a snack in the kitchen instead of wondering what undead creature was skulking outside her window.

While they were sure it was probably one of the town's worst kept secrets, they were never approached by one of the doctors or staff members about stopping their sleeping arrangements. At that point, they seemed more than happy to be as hands off as possible. They never brought it up when going over their notes and they never offered it up. It was a delicate truce as Derek knew that if something happened, it would all come down on their heads and the immensely likelihood of one of them being removed and placed in a different community or worse.

Chloe seemed to stabilize with this new arrangement. She made up her lost progress with her training and seemed to be their rising star again. She listened to her senses, knowing the days that she needed to simply rest and days where she pushed her limits. She wanted to become better at determining who was alive and who was a ghost. The doctors did not think it was wise – probably because they didn't want to lose control over the training, or fearing what the ghosts might tell or warn her.

Derek wasn't allowed to watch her while she trained. No one was: not Simon, Tori, or even Kit. They rationalized it by explaining that every scenario still had an unknown and dangerous element. They simply didn't want anyone to become hurt. Derek had wondered if it really wasn't Chloe's idea – that she didn't want them to see _what_ she could do. Reanimating corpuses were far from a cheery image. It was possible that she didn't want them to watch something that was so disturbing.

The rest of the training they would occasionally drop by and watch. Tori's were always amusing to watch. She – more often than not – would go off script and do something that took her trainer off guard. If they wanted her to light a fire in a certain shape and she wasn't in the most cooperative of moods, she'd do something else – summon a swarm of locusts, create a mini-swamp – anything to remind them that she was in charge of the lessons.

Derek's training was a straightforward as expected – learning how to Change more efficiently, faster; learning how to track as a human; it was all things that he expected. Despite their promises, he still had not been introduced to the Pack. He wasn't sure if it was a lack of interest on their part, the doctors' reasoning, or if it was something entirely else. It bugged at him that he was still the only werewolf. Chloe had other necromancers, Simon had other sorcerers, and Tori had access to sorcerers and witches. It bugged at him they had others that could directly relate to. Instead of Simon complaining about the pronunciation to him, he'd complain to the other sorcerers. Even Chloe had confided less about her ghoulish encounters to him until he had pointed it out.

It made him anxious.

They were all developing and growing and he was not a part of that. They had their own repertoire and he could only try to follow along. They were developing ties to the others, to the town. Was that what the Nasts wanted? Derek could only remind himself that they had all agreed to the deal and that if the time came, they all would abide by it.

The time came and they didn't.

He had been on his usual run route, trying to work off some restless energy. He was on his second lap when he had smelled it. It was distinctly not quite human and very dead. He stopped. Was this some sort of training they were setting him up for? Or was it for Chloe? He didn't think that they were comfortable with her reanimating a human corpse when they seemed more content with the animals in the forest.

He stopped and smelt the air again. He followed the smell into the forest, keeping an eye out to see if there were any trainers lurking in the trees. He didn't hear or see anything that suggested this was a trap. He kept going, carefully.

He saw it – the ground had been disturbed here – and something felt off about it. He looked around, his instincts on high alert. He started moving the dirt on one end. He started slow, unsure, but as the smell increased in strength, his mind started to recognize that he had smelled this scent before. He sped up, not taking care to be neat.

He sat back on his heels.

"Oh fuck me."

Sean's scent wasn't the only one he recognized.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Thanks for reading the chapter! Like it? Hate it? Please give me your thoughts! As a bonus to the **first ten reviewers**, I'll give something extra. Please post a short story idea or a concept and I'll post a drabble involving it! The drabbles will be posted as their own story before I upload chapter two. :)


	2. Plans

**A/N:** Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/added the story to their favorites or alerts! **To those of who reviewed (or sent me a message asking questions) the first chapter, please check out ****_Tales of Another Life_**** for your drabble! The same thing goes for this chapter! First ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice or I will surprise you with one!** If you're one of them, you can either leave it as part of the review or I'll message you and see what your interests are.

Another shout-out goes out to **random-k** for proofreading this. I have replaced my love of misused dashes with commas.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the _Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the Otherworld_ series.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Plans<strong>

"Hey there, sleepyhead." Chloe grumbled, nuzzling against Derek's chest. She was grinning, happy, enjoying the moment.

Derek opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. He was in Chloe's room, in Chloe's bed, and quite noticeably close to her.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," he mumbled. His brain was processing last night's events, they had started talking about the start of their escape when Chloe had gotten too upset; no, _he_ had upset her too much. He knew that he should feel guilty about it, but right now he was taking in the moment. Waking up with Chloe? That hadn't happened since they were on the run the first time. Sure, they might take a nap leaning or next to the other, but spending the entire night, together, in one bed? Well, the bed aspect certainly narrowed it down to a handful of times. There had been plenty of times when they had accidentally fallen asleep in the woods when he was Changed. Those nights seemed like a carefree memories, the world at their feet.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't worry; the zombies are much politer than the last ones I summoned. They're waiting out in the garden. Do you think they'll take tea?"

Derek rubbed his face, opening his eyes to glare at her.

"Since when are you a morning person?"

"Um, since I woke up and realized that I spent the night with my boyfriend and it didn't threaten the local vicinity with a small army of zombies. Can't you be a little excited about it?"

"I am, I just –"

"Don't over think this. Just enjoy it. We were normal for a night. Or the sleeping part of the night at least. I think we should try it again. Soon. Like, tonight? Tonight. Please?"

"Some thinking has to go into this. In case you forgot, You were pretty much knocked out last night. Ring any bells? You had your tea and I must have fallen asleep while waiting for you to start sleeping heavy. I – shit! I need to check out the woods."

"We'll talk about this, right?" Chloe looked at him, nerves building. This could not have been a fluke. She had a lot more control than she did three years ago. She hadn't accidentally raised anything in six months. This had to be a sign that maybe –just maybe – things could progress. Handholding and gazing only satisfied so much. This wasn't the 18th century, and they were a long way past junior high. Although the butterflies in her stomach certainly had a strong argument that maybe they weren't as far as she hoped.

"Yeah," he said gruffly, as he stood up and left the room.

She watched him go into his room, come out a few moments later, and heard him go out the side door. Once she was sure he was done checking the perimeter of the house and was headed towards the woods, she let out a squeal and a victory dance.

Today was going to be a good day. She couldn't remember when she had woken up last with such … hope? A good sort of excitement filling her completely full to the point of almost bursting?

Derek didn't return until she was downstairs, cleaning up the kitchen out of boredom.

"Did any villagers with pitchforks find you?"

"Much to your disappointment, I am pitchfork free, although I know a necromancer that might need a poke or two."

Chloe laughed and Derek rolled his eyes. "I thought the guy was supposed to be in the gutter."

"You're much too proper to be in the gutter. I'm pretty impressed that you even know that phrase."

"I lived with Simon, remember?" Derek stopped.

The light atmosphere was immediately sucked out of the room. Tension and heaviness replaced it, a reminder of how unstable everything was in their lives. How quickly things had changed by merely mentioning Simon. His and Tori's absence was heavily felt by the both of them, an unintended heavy blow. Instead of hearing quips about how he shouldn't eat something and Tori would be more than happy to remove the temptations, it was silence. Instead of hearing a shriek followed by Simon's unmistakable laugh, there was paranoia lurking around every corner. Who knew that she could miss hearing daily arguments so much?

Simon and Tori's relationship had slowly turned into some sort of brother-sister relationship over the years. While it never seemed to ever _mature_, they both seemed to enjoy the constant bickering. Chloe supposed that Simon never really had a chance to experience that part of a sibling relationship with Derek. No, he wouldn't have. Derek didn't see the point of bickering for fun, taking stabs at each other just to provoke a reaction. It was fun for Chloe to watch since she had never really been witness to such a dynamic. Sure, she had seen something like it when she went to sleepovers and inevitably the host's little brother or sister would try to get in on the fun or an older sibling would casually slip a partially embarrassing story, but it wasn't the same. She had only glimpses into that world. She had a complete view, or at least she did until they left.

Silence.

"Why didn't Simon believe you," Chloe asked softly.

"I don't know. Denial, maybe? Things were working out so great for him there, why would he willingly change things up? He had me out of his hair, so he could finally focus on just him and his life and figuring out where he wants to go. People _get_ him and he likes it. He's off studying art like he always wanted to without having to worry about footing the bill. He's still planning on launching some sort of studio or comic after he graduates in the spring. He has _plans_. If he bolts, he throws all of that away."

"So there isn't anything you can think of that might make him skeptical? You didn't say anything to him before? I heard that you two had a pretty big fight not too long before we left."

Derek sat down at the table, resting his head in his hands. A few moments passed and he let out a heavy sigh. "We did."

"You don't think that it's related to him not believing you? And Tori? Kit? Derek, _tell_ me."

He looked over at her, his deep green eyes full of turmoil and pain. He gestured for her to take a seat opposite him. She walked over to the chair as though she was being pulled, her body tense with fear and apprehension.

"It was about you."

Chloe started to interrupt ,but he held up his hand, to let her know, that he would finish if she gave him the chance.

"They all love you. I want you to remember that. Even Tori, she was the closest person that was on your side about all of this. I think she might have really been the only person on your side."

"Just tell me, Derek. I'll be able to handle it but I don't think I can handle you just beating around the bush."

"You remember after we were observed and the doctors' gave their moronic opinions on how at best we could hope to one day become friends, we had our separate meetings?"

Chloe nodded.

"At mine, they suggested that I start dating other people and reconsider moving for college," Derek snorted. "I don't remember how many meetings they had me sit in where it was just the same garbage over and over. They eventually stopped having them with me, but apparently they switched to have the meetings with them. They talked to Simon next. I guess they figured he had the best read on the girls there since he's Mr. Popular.

"At first, he had the same reaction. But about six months after, he started dropping hints around me. Just passing along little tidbits about the girls he thought that might be suitable or a few university pamphlets. After a year, Dad started trying to bring it up with me. Saying the same garbage that Lauren loved to spout at you – first person that took an interest, so young, all of that nonsense mess. Tori was the last. I guess they weren't sure if they could trust her not to tell me everything. Once she figured out what their game plan was, she told me. She was surprised that I hadn't figured it out and yelled at everyone about it."

He paused and shook his head, a small smile creeping in. "Who would have thought Tori would be more loyal than the guys that took me in? She told me that she thought it was garbage, but she was worried for you. She thought that if you saw that I was moving on, you might be able to move on and have some happiness of your own.

"A few months ago, one of the school teachers approached me about doing some tutoring for a few students that were struggling with calculus. Remember how I used to do that with physics until they were able to acquire a half way decent teacher? But, yeah, they thought that maybe a different approach would help them. I agreed to it, it seemed innocent enough. Despite your opinion, math can be quite fun. But back to the point – tutoring. It was legitimate, she was terrible at math. It was challenging, although I'm still questioning exactly how bad she was. But, it was a set-up. After our last session, she tried to make a move and let it slip that Simon was somehow involved."

Chloe was quiet, jaw tense, lips pressing together into a thin line and then returning back to normal. Derek continued.

"So, I found Simon, dragged him to the woods and let him have it. He brought up the college thing trying to change the subject and accidentally let it slip about Dad and Tori while trying to rationalize everything."

Chloe looked at him, and in a voice no louder than a whisper, "You can, you know –"

His hands shot across the table, roughly grabbing hers'.

"Never. Chloe – never. We _will_ figure this out, okay? I don't want you to even think that I'm done. The only person that can call us done is you, you hear me? If you want to call it quits," he inhaled, pausing, "you can. Until I hear the words from your mouth, no one will ever be an option for me."

He didn't like lying to Chloe. He knew that there would never be anyone "after Chloe", but she didn't need to know that. She didn't need that extra pressure, the extra stress. She would take it as a sign that she would need to make sure that he was happy and try to find a way to make it work, even if her heart wasn't in it. He didn't want her to feel responsible for his happiness. But, he needed to let her know that she shouldn't feel pressured by their situation to stay with him. He only wanted her to be happy. He would gladly sacrifice anything- even himself- if it would make her happy.

Instantly he internally winced – despite meaning to- he _had_ put all of the relationship pressure on her. It was what he had so desperately tried to avoid when he was sorting out that 'mate' nonsense that the trainers had mentioned on only one occasion. He knew that he should say something, to correct it, to say that it would take both of them to call it off, but he couldn't. His stomach heaved and his throat went dry. He couldn't say those words if his life depended on it.

She nodded, eyes glistening with tears. She took in a deep breath, blinking rapidly. "So you think because of … their involvement that they thought you were making Sean's death up?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. But I'm not wrong. You can't fake a specific person's rotting flesh like that. I smelt him, I touched him. If you wanted to, you could summon him. He is gone and by the looks of it, had been for a while. You know me; I wouldn't have left if it was just some idiotic nonsense interfering about trying to get me to date other people."

"I know," Chloe breathed. Her mind was a whirlwind, processing all of the information Derek had shared with her. Dating other people? Simon and the others were on board with the idea? Trying to convince Derek to go to university by himself? It all seemed so bizarre. It made sense logically, but it didn't make any sense emotionally. If their hearts were in the right place, could she really begrudge them trying to nudge them apart? If they lived for fleeting pecks on the cheek and sleeping in the same bed after she was dead to the world, would it be better if they were to try to find some happiness with other people? But wait – could they try for more? Last night was a huge leap forward. They had never tried sleeping in the same bed since they restricted their activities. Could it be repeated if it was normal sleep? Would Derek be willing to try?

Her brain processed the rest of Derek's tale. Sean had been dead for a while? And buried not too far from Badger Lake? Was this some sort of sign? A warning of some sorts? Could everyone in Badger Lake be in danger, right now? Or was it all just a fluke since they were so remote? Her brain kicked into overdrive. Could she summon Sean? It could possibly provide answers. However, sometimes the death is so traumatic that the ghost doesn't recall what happened or who they were with. If Sean had been murdered, that raised the probability of him not remembering significantly.

"Did you –" Chloe started.

"I need a break from this," Derek said, standing up from the table abruptly. "I'm going to do a quick check and then how about we have lunch out in the woods?"

Chloe gave a slight nod.

* * *

><p>"How many more days do you think we'll have like this?" Chloe looked at their surroundings, the leaves had started to change colors, and some had already started falling. Their air was cooler and crisp. It evoked memories of school starting, pumpkins, avoiding all football talk.<p>

"Maybe a few more weeks before the temperature start's dropping."

"This is a pretty nice spot, secluded but not too far from civilization if we need to make a break for it. There's the forest, the cemetery is on the other side of town…" Chloe trailed off. An optimistic wish. She scanned the trees and took in the scents of the forest. "Do you think we can stay here for a while?"

"Maybe. It'd be nice."

"Mmm." Chloe agreed. They had already stayed here longer than any other place in the past six months. Could this be their safe haven? Being on the road in the winter would be much harder, not to mention they would have to acquire a new wardrobe on the road. Winter would turn into spring and the seasons would continue to change. She assumed that the Nasts were looking for them. Or maybe they had just written them off. If they made a big fuss about retrieving them, it'd look suspicious to the other Cabals, assuming any of them besides the St. Clouds were aware of their existence. If there wasn't anything going on, why couldn't they just leave the Nasts without any repercussions? Wasn't that part of the deal?

She wasn't sure how long they spent in comfortable silence. She turned off her brain; there would be plenty of restless nights and long days to spend thinking and over thinking every possible scenario. There wouldn't be countless carefree afternoons spent lounging in the forest with Derek.

* * *

><p>Neither one of them brought up their sleeping arrangements later that day, or the next, or even the ones after that. They continued as they had, comfortable in their routine. She had her runes in her room while Derek had their emergency bags packed and ready to go in his.<p>

It wasn't a matter of neither one wanting to continue their habits, but a matter of practicality. It wouldn't be wise for Chloe to drink the tea every night. It introduced the risk that her system would start to build up a tolerance for it. If they hoped to stay here for any span of time, they needed to not draw attention to themselves.

A month passed and Chloe started to feel uneasy. If they stayed here much longer, it would be hard to leave. It'd be hard to leave now. She had grown attached to the house and the woods. Watching the skyline change each day was just a reminder of how quickly the days were passing by.

Derek was lying on the couch, reading another book that he had somehow procured from somewhere. His reading these days switched between necromancy and werewolves. He didn't have the luxury of bringing his own academic textbooks. She looked at the volume, the aged cover and darkened pages.

"So what is today's fascinating topic?"

"Ancient runes – yesterday's forgotten treasure or today's big waste of time," he sighed. "You sure they're actually helping? That it's not some sort of placebo effect?"

Chloe plopped into the overstuffed chair next to the couch. "Yes, I mean – I think they're helping. It isn't as much as what the doctors said it would. Or maybe it would if I wasn't Super Undead Girl."

"You don't smell undead."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, there might be a slight twinge of it but that's only when you're actually summoning something."

"Well, that answers an uncomfortable question that I've been meaning to ask you for a while." Chloe shifted uncomfortably, desperately wanting something to do so that it would at least give her a purpose. Or at least make her feel a little less awkward while she processed her new smell, 'undead'.

"It really is just a twinge, barely noticeable."

"You're really not helping."

"So how can I help?"

"What is our next move?" Chloe blurted out quickly.

One of the many elephants in the room had been addressed. Derek couldn't brush her off saying he needed to check on things, couldn't make an excuse about being tired. Finally she would have an answer.

"You used to talk to me about these things, planning moves, making the big decisions," Chloe continued, a response to not receiving an answer from Derek. She had opened a floodgate and she didn't know when it would ever stop. "I need to know what is going on here. My opinion counts for something, right? Or maybe I might have noticed something that you hadn't? You can't put everything on you. I know you don't want to _upset_ me because _we just can't do that_ but give me some credit. It's been months, not weeks. We're both grown-ups. If I screw up, I'll deal with it.

Derek sat up, closing the ancient volume. He tried to keep his face blank but it was Chloe. His usual reactions to people fell apart when it was just the two of them. Even if they were in a group, she could still read him like an open book while the others were completely oblivious. He didn't even know why he bothered to even try. It might have been that they rarely had heated disagreements so his default response was to treat it like a conversation he was having with someone else. Not that he wanted to be especially practiced arguing with Chloe, but it would certainly be useful when they did.

"Things have chan-"

"No, you do _not_ get to say that."

"They have," Derek spat back. "Despite your insisting, things cannot be like they were before. We know better than to do all of the stupid things we did the first time. And most of that was because you were too timid to speak up. 'Oh sure, I can sleep in a house with a dead body, no big deal!' 'I'll follow Tori into dark alleys and then hang around so that she can get away'. So, you have a problem, speak up."

"I did say something," her voice taut. "So I would _appreciate_ it if you would stop walking around on eggshells around me. I can't believe that you're doing it. Still. I'm not going to get mad and raise half the town."

"It wasn't just the dead people."

That caught Chloe off guard. Not just the dead people? Did he, how could he know about the others?

"I could _feel_ it, whatever it was. The energy in the air, the air moving, whatever was in the air, I could _sense_ it, them, whatever it was. It wasn't just ghosts, I know that much."

Derek watched her face, not knowing how she'd react. Would she be angry? Upset? Sad? At what part: at him not telling her or for him finally telling her? Should this been something that he kept to himself, not let her know that he had an idea of what she could possibly do?

"Well," Chloe said, her voice thick, "congratulations at keeping that lovely piece of information to yourself for so long and not sharing it with me. You truly know what a _freak_ you're with," she spat before she left. Derek listened to her footfalls and the slam of her bedroom door.

He hung his head in his hands for a moment.

_That_ did certainly did not go well.

Or maybe it did? He tensed and surveyed the empty room. Chloe's scent heavily hung in the air – he deeply inhaled.

It was within the realm of her normal scent. No trace of the unpleasant summoning undead smell.

His shoulders sagged from the tension escaping. He stood up and followed Chloe's path to her bedroom. He paused in front of the door. Should he knock or just walk in? He didn't have to make the decision – Chloe yanked the door open, her face clearly spelled out that furious was a mild way of describing her mood.

"I have water heating for my tea. You don't need to remind me, or do it for me, or make sure that I drink it. I'll be a good girl and just go to sleep so you don't have to worry about the big scary ghosts getting you."

"Chloe, just, stop, you don't need it."

"So you want half of the dead town knocking on our door soon?"

"Your scent, right now, there isn't the summoning part to it. You didn't raise anything."

Chloe watched him carefully, her face had now shifted to distrust.

"I think there is something to these runes after all. Because, you were- I mean are- pretty pissed off. At me. Which," he paused, "might be justifiable?"

"Way past that." She glared at him, his words slowly sinking in. The tea wasn't necessary? It wasn't needed at all? Disregarding the scent part – it was something that she could have done without knowing for a bit longer – could this possibly be another positive sign? Her feet moved her to her bed and she sat down.

Derek took a tentative step inside her room.

"I should be talking to you about what steps we're taking. You were right."

"And if I was right, that means that you were…"

"Wrong," he said as he sat next to her.

"And?"

Derek grimaced, he hated this part. "I'm sorry," he grumbled.

"Today is shaping to be pretty alright. I didn't raise the dead and Derek was wrong." Chloe smiled. It wasn't often that she could drag an apology out of him. "So you think the runes are doing what they're supposed to do?"

"Maybe. It could be that, your powers might have finally evened out, a combination of the two or maybe you were just too distracted by me."

"I think they're working. But I'd still like to keep them around, as a safety precaution." The idea that her powers had finally stabilized was a very tempting and seductive thought. It could open up a realm of possibilities that Chloe had closed off a long time ago. No more poking and prodding, or long and extensive sessions where they tried to match her emotional reaction with her body's response, no more people walking around eggshells around her, no more hushed whispers when new people came into town and asked about her. The town's official story was that she had summoned a particularly nasty ghost and couldn't send him back. And it was true, partially, only it was quite a bit more than just the one. And there may have been other otherworldly beings in the mix. Only, Chloe realized, none of that mattered anymore, not since they had left the Nasts. She wouldn't be subject to any of those things. Not anymore.

Derek nodded; he had been thinking the same thing. "I should have talked to you about all of this before it came to this point. Everything is complicated."

"Mmm," Chloe agreed. "So our next step?"

"You sure you want to talk about this now?"

"Why not? I've already blown up at you once today."

"You want to go for two?"

Chloe laughed, she wasn't sure if there had been a time where they had several nasty arguments in a day.

"I don't know exactly how to say this. So I'll just say it. I think we should go to the Pack."

Chloe looked at him, waiting for a sheepish grin and an "I'm kidding, I don't know what we're doing next" confession. A moment passed and it didn't come. Another passed, still nothing.

"I know it doesn't make sense, Chloe. But, I think they can possibly help us."

"Oh yes, I'm sure the chainsaw gang would be more than willing to help liberate your limbs one by one. They never responded to your attempts to get in contact with them before. They're clearly not interested. Why would you even think that we need to go to them? Or that they wouldn't just kill us on sight? Isn't that standard protocol with them and -"

Chloe caught herself. She had almost said "mutts".

"It's about Sean. The body, the way it was disposed of – I'm pretty sure that some werewolves are involved, somehow."

"Remember their fondness of chainsaws? I don't think they have any qualms about killing people."

When they had first heard about the legendary pictures of a werewolf being dismembered by a chainsaw, they had both chalked it up to a tall tale- a boogeyman- to keep other werewolves in line. That was, of course, until they had seen the pictures themselves. Derek suspected the reason they showed them was to keep him in line regarding the Pack. It served as a stark reminder of what was possible if he didn't have the protection of the Nast Cabal if he ran into the Pack.

"It doesn't make sense for someone to randomly go after Sean. He isn't a "nobody" sorcerer – he's, he was the head of the Nasts. You don't do something like that unless you have a plan."

"Maybe they wanted in on whatever business the Nasts were doing, they didn't get what they wanted, and they killed Sean to send a message."

"If they wanted to send a message, why bury him in the woods away from Nast headquarters? Why Canada and not L.A.? If they wanted to send a message, it would have been much more explicit and public."

Today would be a day to remember, Chloe was close to blowing up at him again. After she took a moment to compose herself, she sighed. "What do you think happened?"

"I know," Derek started cautiously, waiting to see if he would be interrupted. When Chloe didn't make any motion to interrupt he continued, "that some werewolves are involved, but most likely not the Pack. I think the werewolves were probably the hired muscle of whoever wanted in on the Nasts' business. If we bring this information to the Pack, they should grant us some protection until this all blows over. They want the supernatural world crashing on their heads as much as we do."

"But what proof do you have? Why would they believe you? And wait, how do you know that werewolves were involved? Did you see anyone?"

"I smelled them. It was faint because the body had been there for a while, but trust me; I'd recognize the scents anywhere."

"Scents? Derek, you're holding back on me."

"Yeah, scents."

"What do you mean, scents?"

"I recognized them."

"Like just recognized them as werewolves or was it something more?" Chloe's voice had a hard edge to it.

"The Cains are involved in it, somehow."

"You're joking."

Derek smiled at her, "I wish I were."

"You sure you want to go to the Pack? You don't want to get their side of the story?" Chloe certainly did not see that coming. Their last run in with the Cains was years ago. They had spent several months on the road with Kit and Lauren when somehow the Cains had found out about Derek and tracked him down. Chloe assumed that Ramon had told someone – possibly the Pack, if he did turn himself in like he claimed when Ramon and Liam discovered them on their way to Andrew's house – about Derek being a Cain.

It wasn't the best family to be associated with. The Cains certainly had a reputation within the werewolf community and possibly a feud with the Pack. They weren't sure if it had been before or after the feud started, but Derek's biological father was Zachary Cain; a werewolf that was tortured and killed by the Pack when he joined an uprising against them. Ramon had helpfully let them know that all Cains were known as being "big as a house, ugly as a mud fence, and dumb as a brick." Chloe disagreed with the idea of Derek being considered ugly and no one could feasibly argue that Derek wasn't intellectually gifted. He was, as Ramon pointed out, as big as a house. He was sixteen when they had run into Ramon and, his partner in crime, Liam and he was even larger now at twenty-one. Liam was the first, and as far as she knew the only, werewolf Derek had killed – killed because he was defending _her_.

While Derek certainly didn't express any remorse at meeting and then leaving his biological werewolf family, Chloe still felt some guilt over it. Derek's cousin Carter had used her as a bargaining chip. Derek could have Chloe back unharmed if he swore to never contact the Cains. Despite knowing that Derek wasn't upset about it, Chloe knew that he could have used their knowledge and experience about being a werewolf. The training Derek received was less than stellar. He frequently let her know about how pointless some of the exercises were or how they would tell him something one month and then the next month, the opposite would be true in regards to folklore and werewolf history. He needed another werewolf to train with if he wanted to become better. He knew that Liam was a fluke, Liam was already badly injured and in human form when Derek killed him.

"The Pack is the best way to handle this. They know the Cains better we do. It might have been a set up to lure me out to the Cains. But the Pack needs to know. If Sean isn't safe, no one is."

"And you're okay with that?"

"They know better than we do what has been started," Derek said. There was a tone of finality to his voice.

"I suppose," Chloe said. "Still. I mean - "

"It's not about that Chloe. It's about making sure that we're out of harm's way, or at least as far as we can manage. The Pack – that's it. They're our best bet. If it turns out we're over our heads, we'll figure out a way to get away."

"I'm sure they have corpses somewhere around their headquarters. I can't imagine they'd be buried in a local cemetery."

Derek laughed, "Zombie werewolves. That would certainly get their attention."

Chloe gave a small laugh, "I'm serious, you know."

"I know."

"So we're going back to New York? Do you know anything about where they might be?"

"Kit always said Syracuse was where they were based out of. I remember Ramon saying that they had claimed all of New York. Kit probably would know here their headquarters were and just didn't know about the rest of it. I think that is the best starting point for us."

Chloe noted that he had called Kit by his name instead of 'Dad', but didn't mention it. Perhaps another day when they weren't both emotionally wiped from arguing and deciding their next step.

"We don't have to go there immediately, do we?"

"Maybe not immediately but we need to start preparing for the trip. We'll leave as soon as that's done. We'll have more leverage if we're the first."

Just like that it was over. Their unexpected time at their safe haven was drawing to a rapid close. They started going through their belongings ; clothes, bags, books. Each time they made a stop, they tried to leave as little behind but meanwhile only keeping the essentials. It was a fine line, considering that they tried not to venture into town more than necessary.

Sooner than Chloe would have liked, their bags were packed for the last time. Their travel options this time were more concrete than before. They had a set destination and they needed to get there soon. Chloe decided that they were flying. Flying there or trying to figure out how to get to the closest bus station that would take them back to New York? It would just be simpler to have a direct mode of transportation.

The only dilemma was their identities. Would they need fakes? Or risk traveling under their names?

"I thought this might come up at some point," Derek said when Chloe asked his opinion. She was leaning towards fakes but what about their identification? She didn't think the TSA would simply let them through if she explained their situation. The only thing that would result from that would be a lengthy interrogation and a visit to the psychiatric ward in the local hospital if they were lucky.

Derek looked through one of his bags. "Here it is," he said, pulling out a manila envelope. "I had Tori make up some fakes for us a while back. There's your passport, driver's license, and some debit cards that we'll switch to."

Chloe grabbed her driver's license. The photo could have been better, but she supposed a good picture would be an immediate tip that it was less than legitimate. The same went for her passport photo.

"So, I'm Melissa Moore and you're?"

"David."

"And your last name is?"

"Moore. I thought it'd be easier to pass as a couple instead of trying for siblings or friends."

"Are you saying we don't look like friends?"

"Not really, no. More people pay attention to body language than you realize. It's still small, but this way we don't have to alter our behavior while traveling."

"I guess that makes sense. Although there is a flaw in that logic ; we're a couple now and we don't have the same last name," Chloe said. Derek rolled his eyes. She entered the information for Melissa and David Moore into the booking portion of the website. "And the debit cards are active?"

"Yeah, they're indirectly linked to your regular account. Tori knows a surprisingly amount of information about these types of things. I think she might have helped herself to whatever money her mom had."

"Wait, are these safe? If Tori made all of this, why are we using them? Wouldn't she just tell the Nasts the names?"

Derek paused and for a moment looked uncomfortable. "She won't," he said, finally. "Even though she didn't come, she won't tell them about this. If she even remembers making these, I doubt she remembers the names. It was a few years ago."

"Yeah, Tori the computer genius surely can't find a way at finding files that should remain hidden."

"She can't if the computer she did all the work on is fried."

"You _were_ overly paranoid in the beginning." Chloe remembered that Tori's first computer lasted six months before suffering a power surge and everything was deemed a total loss. Despite her insistence, she didn't have an external hard drive to back everything up until after her computer bit the dust. Tori had chalked it up to the Nasts wanting to be cheap since they were seen as a "luxury" and "not necessary" to casual users. She was in a foul mood for a month but as a result, she was able to custom build her next computer and finally received the external to periodically back up her files.

Derek shrugged and put his passport in his carry on and his debit and driver's license in his wallet.

"Tomorrow is the soonest we can leave?"

"Well, considering we're taking the cheapest flight and it left shortly after lunch, I would say yes."

"Is it non-stop?"

"No, we have a bit of a layover in Toronto and then it's off to Syracuse. We'll get in late, so I guess we'll find a motel until we can find something else.

"I'm going to miss this place," Chloe said quietly after a moment.

Derek came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, "Me too" he murmured in her ear.

* * *

><p>She didn't have to ask him to join her in bed that night.<p> 


	3. Threats

**A/N:** Here are a few general (long) housekeeping notes I want to get out with.

First off – last month, February 2014, I had over **950+ views** to my stories. That is a TON and thank you all so much for clicking and reading! It blows my mind and I hope that I keep up with you all.

Second – another reminder that I am offering the same deal as I have with the other chapters. **First ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice. **Stuck and don't have an idea, only a set of characters or ship? No problem! I can surprise you with one with those parts!

Third – **is anyone watching _Bitten_?** It is based on the first _Women of the Otherworld_ book by the same name, _Bitten_. Why should _Darkest Powers_ fans be interested in it? Does the name **Zachary Cain** ring any bells? **Its Derek's dad!** I am _so_ happy with the way that they have portrayed his character it is just … ridiculous. I am so _so_ happy with it. Does he look like he does in the books? No, but I imagine finding a 7 foot (yes, seriously), blond guy (yes, seriously) that is massively buff can be hard in the show business. He makes his first appearance in the show in episode four. _Bitten _is the very first book that launched the entire universe that _Darkest Powers _exists in. You want a good look into why Derek is so odd of a werewolf? WotO has plenty of answers (although I will be touching on several of them throughout the story too). Here is a very brief synopsis I wrote: _Bitten_ is about Elena Michaels and her struggle to find her identity as a supernatural, or more specifically, a bitten werewolf. As of Bitten TV timeline, she is the only female to survive the Change ever/that they know of. She is currently trying to push away the werewolf/supernatural and live a 'normal' human life, but it isn't as easy as it would seem, considering the Pack is in trouble. And that is where it all starts off.

Of course, I would always hope that the TV series inspires you to pick up the books because it is TV and they are going off in their own direction. Or you could indulge me and let me think my story has given you incentive to read them… okay, that might be going a little far.

Canadian viewers, you can find it on Space on Saturdays. US viewers, you can watch it on Syfy on Mondays. Please check your local listings for times! I believe Nordic HBO has also picked it up. If you don't have access to those channels, feel free to message me and I'll let you know how I watch it. I am US but I watch the Space version because the Space version … has a bit more of the male form that Syfy just isn't comfortable airing at 8PM. Just saying.

Fourth – **if you have any questions – about _Promises Made_, the TV show, or the books, feel free to message me!** I love talking fandom with people.

Fifth – I know of some of you are concerned about **the state of Chlerek**. Well – just trust me, okay?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the _Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the Otherworld_ series. Nor do I own _Dexter_. There is a very, very strong reference to a _Dexter_ season 7 episode (the bit about the unclaimed baggage room) and how things like that simply can _not_ happen in airports. Also if you ever feel the urge to try watching _Dexter_ – don't, just don't. If someone really twists your arm, just stop at season one. Friends don't let friends succumb to hate watching – because you will and you will resent your friend for the hours wasted. I might be a little bitter. Still.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Threats<p>

* * *

><p>"I am seriously questioning your judgment," Derek muttered to Chloe. He was in a spectacular grumpy mood, even for him. "Next time, I need to be consulted."<p>

Chloe looked over at him. They already had a less than stellar morning and the rest of the day was shaping to be worse.

"Well, _David_," she began, "I did think about you when I bought the tickets. I picked the cheapest flight. Our other options were two layovers, driving to make a bus or train station or driving the entire way. You can handle a few more hours of discomfort when otherwise we'd barely be started."

Derek glared at her. While he appreciated Chloe's dedication to making sure their cover remained intact, he wasn't thrilled with her using his false name. He had made a strong case that she could just call him "D" but she would only agree if she could add "big" in front of it. He turned it down. Now, they were stuck on a plane that Derek could not wait to get out of.

They were still at the gate at Quebec.

"You could have told me that you weren't comfortable with planes."

"How was I supposed to know?"

"We all know now. You don't mix well with planes."

"I would take bus over this."

"I doubt it. Two days travelling with strangers – no. We'll pick something up for you at Toronto. I'm sure they have something to help travel anxiety in the little shops. The next plane has two seats in a row, so we won't have to worry about someone else."

Derek looked over to her. As of now, the aisle seat was empty.

"Someone is sitting next to you?"

"If the seat is booked, yeah," Chloe responded. "But we won't know that until we're completely boarded."

"Switch."

Chloe rolled her eyes and they switched seats. She wasn't too surprised but she thought that Derek's outrage had run out of steam. He did not think highly of the security measures they had to go through to gain access to the terminal. Chloe swore she heard a low growl when Derek saw the labyrinth they had to go through.

"Suit yourself; you'll be sitting next to the stranger."

Derek shifted uncomfortably, already noting that his movement was limited by having seats on opposite sides of him.

"No more planes," he muttered, eyeing people as they were walking by, stalking the overhead compartments for an available spot for their carry-ons.

Chloe laughed, "I'll make sure we find something for you to take Big D."

* * *

><p>The first leg of the flight went slightly better than their time at the gate. The seat next to Derek remained, thankfully, unoccupied. Once they landed in Toronto, Chloe found a few shops that sold various miscellaneous items for travelers that might have forgotten something at home such as neck pillows, blankets, sweatshirts, toothbrushes, but struck out at finding some Benadryl for Derek.<p>

"Do you want to keep looking or just head over to the bar?"

Derek looked at his watch. "What time do we have to be back at the gate?"

"About thirty minutes before."

They continued their search. Despite their attempts, they couldn't find a store that sold Benadryl over the counter. Chloe thought it was odd but she had never tried to find it in an airport before.

"We can hit the bar if you'd like."

"Isn't there some regulation against that?"

"You just can't be _drunk_ when you board the plane."

Derek grunted.

"So was that a yes or no grunt? I don't have my Big D grunts down."

"I'll just deal with it."

"Uh huh."

Chloe began walking. Derek almost called out her name in surprise, but caught himself. He hurried after her, cursing at their carry-ons for not immediately cooperating with his spurt of speed.

"Where are you going" he hissed after her.

"I need a drink."

* * *

><p>Chloe followed the hostess as she led them to a booth at TGI Friday's. Derek was right behind on her heels.<p>

"The food will help."

Derek grunted in response.

It turns out the food did help – as did the two glasses of wine Chloe had with her meal. If he wasn't going to take something, she needed to. It was for the best, really.

They were slowly finishing their meal – Chloe picking at her dessert while Derek kept an eye on the time. The less time spent in an airport, the better, in his opinion. It was too crowded and too loud for him. It was making him uneasy, although since they had sat down, the stream of people walking by had considerably slowed down.

They had paid their bill and were leaving the restaurant when Chloe bumped into a man going into the restaurant. Derek grabbed Chloe, steadying her which proved more difficult than usual with her sporting a buzz, when he froze.

He recognized the man.

It wasn't the face, he made sure to keep his face down.

Derek recognized his scent. It was one that had been seared into his memory. Without thinking, he instantly reacted. He let go of Chloe and their bags, grabbed him, and led him down the hall to an isolated group of seats. Chloe watched confused for a moment before grabbing the bags Derek had dropped and followed behind.

Derek looked at the man with pure hatred. He only took his eyes off him briefly when Chloe sat on a chair opposite them.

"Who is paying you to follow us," Derek hissed. "Tell us the truth and you might end up a little worse off than the last time. Lie to us and you'll wish to trade places with Liam."

Ramon shifted uneasily in his chair, partly from airport chairs being uncomfortable, partly from Derek's iron grip on his arm.

"I'm just passing through. I'm not working for anyone."

"Likely story," Derek growled. "Let me see your ticket."

Ramon reached in his jacket pocket slowly, his hand reemerging with a boarding pass to Las Vegas. Derek eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm going to Las Vegas. I have no clue where you're going and quite frankly kid, I don't care. I don't have a beef with you. That was years ago and strictly business. Let's be civilized," he grinned, "besides if I was tracking you, bumping into you at an airport is a pretty sorry way to start things off. There are cameras everywhere. What am I going to do? Kill you and leave your body in the unclaimed baggage room? Please."

Derek had forgotten about the cameras, but seeing Ramon's shift in attitude from appeasing to taunting caused him to slightly loosen his grip on the arm.

"We'll let you go if you give us information," Chloe interrupted.

Ramon's grin grew wider.

"Little girlfriend seems to have grown more of a backbone. I'll play."

Chloe gave him a devilish grin. "Just remember – cameras or no, if you lie, they won't help matters. Derek can kill you without it being overt and I can throw your soul back into your body and the only thing people will think is that we're having a regular conversation. It's been a while since I had a supernatural plaything," Chloe tilted her head, grinning mischievously.

"You're bluffing."

"Am I? You don't smell a certain . . . " Chloe let the sentence hang there for a few beats, "specific, very specific smell? It should catch your attention."

Ramon tensed, his nostrils flaring and face blanched and contorted into a look of disgust. Derek kept his face unchanged, but inwardly he was regretting not finding some Benadryl to take.

Chloe continued, "We want everything you know about the Pack. Members, former members, what they like to eat, any habits, and we need to know where they are."

"I'm not lying. I haven't run into them in a while, but," he hurried, seeing Chloe narrow her eyes, "I hear things, you know? I don't know if they're all true, but I hear stuff."

He waited to see if Chloe was going to respond. When she didn't, he continued. "There's Jeremy Danvers – he should still be the Alpha. He's been that for a couple of decades now and I definitely would have heard if he died. There's Clay Danvers and Elena. Nasty combination those two – they have a fondness for disposing of mutts. Rumor has it that they have a few pups of their own. Can't say I've seen anything to prove it but I haven't seen anything that doesn't prove it either. Then you have Antonio and Nick, father and son, they're big, not as big as you," he nodded towards Derek, "but they can take on larger guys without too much of a problem. There might be another one or two but I've never run into them."

"And the one with chainsaw affinity?" Chloe asked.

"He's still there. That would be Clay. I imagine he's found new toys to play with, bet he hasn't made it public so that he doesn't run out of playthings."

Derek looked at his watch. They would be boarding soon. Chloe noticed him looking at the time and nodded.

"Just one more thing we need and you'll be free of us. Tell us where we can find them."

"Look, I'm sure you're confident that your boyfriend can pummel them but these guys have decades of fighting experience. You're walking into your own grave. You think they're going to let blondie go after they're done with you? They'll find some way to dispose of her – and probably take their sweet time too."

"Write down the address," Chloe growled. She tensed, summoning energy towards her.

Ramon's face paled even further. He motioned for a pen and paper and wrote down the address. Derek roughly let him go and gathered their bags up. Chloe remained sitting, staring at Ramon. She slowly stood up and leaned next to Ramon's ear.

"If," she whispered, "they know we're coming, it is because you told them. If that is the case, it does not matter what happens to us. I will find your soul sooner or later and you're not going to like what I'm going to do to it."

She straightened back up, took Derek's free hand, and together they walked off, leaving Ramon alone on the bench.

"Remind me not to let you out of my sight while you're angry with me," Derek muttered.

Chloe grinned, "I think I might have a knack for interrogation."

Derek was about to respond when the intercom system announced that their plane would begin boarding in five minutes.

"Round two, it begins," Derek muttered. Chloe squeezed his hand and they bravely went to the gate.

* * *

><p>Chloe woke up as the overhead seatbelt sign dinged off. She rubbed her face, trying to wake herself up. It was a vain attempt, she wanted to curl back up and continue her sleep at least for a few more minutes. She straightened up and noticed that the seat next to her was empty. She forced her eyes closed for a moment, willing them to refocus and see that she was mistaken.<p>

She opened her eyes – the seat remained empty.

She looked around the plane, it was in the process of emptying, and regained some hope. It was fleeting. It did not seem likely that Derek would leave her asleep on a plane that still had passengers. She kneeled on the seat and peered around the stream of passengers, hoping to find a hulking form that stood out. Her eyes travelled back to the lavatories without finding what she was looking for.

He wouldn't abandon her like this, she knew that. It went against his nature. He wouldn't have brought her this far only to jump ship the moment they reached Syracuse.

Chloe stood up and checked the overhead compartment. Her suitcase was still there. Derek's, however, was not.

"He must have just needed to go to the bathroom or something," she muttered to herself, wanting the audible words to be more convincing than the ones sounding in her head. "I'll grab my stuff, get off, and I'll find him at the gate waiting for me." She took a deep breath as she awkwardly pulled down her bag.

She gave one last glance around the plane. Derek wasn't in her sight. She sighed and was the last passenger off the plane. She walked slowly, not due to sleep but dread and a slight headache. She knew that Derek wouldn't leave her but all of the signs certainly pointed at it.

"It doesn't make sense," she muttered to herself. If she was going to be left behind, it should have happened years ago. If this was what Derek wanted, he had the perfect opportunity years ago when they were trying to make their way to Andrew's house to supposed safety. He had woken her up roughly then, eyes blazing with fever, torn between pleading with her to stay or to go. He could have gone off by himself then and left her on the bus with Tori and Simon. He could have disappeared from all of them, if that was what he wanted. But it wasn't, it wasn't how he worked. Chloe knew deep in her soul that he wasn't like that.

"Unless," she whispered, coming to a stop as she reached the gate, "this was the way to keep me safe."

Her heart sunk into her stomach, her face paled as the blood receded from it in shock.

She dimly heard a voice overhead, the first time it sounded foggy. She snapped to attention the second time it sounded, alerting passengers from Toronto that the checked bags would be out in a few minutes. He could leave her on the plane, he could grab his bag and make a dash for the exit, but he could not escape waiting for the carousel to bring him his bags.

She broke out into a run, an odd sight considering the lateness of the hour, nearing ten, and how empty the airport was. She wasn't sure what people would say about her, if there was anyone to see her. She hurried down the terminal, through customs, and walked down the escalators.

"Shit," she muttered, realizing that she didn't know what baggage claim was designated for their flight. She looked over and saw the large crowd of people waiting by a stagnant conveyer belt. Her eyes flitted over the crowds, men, women, a few kids that looked as though they could fall asleep standing up. She was nearing the bottom of the escalator and still had not found Derek.

She caught a flash of movement by one of the empty luggage carousels. She looked over and her heart soared – he was there. She wasn't all by herself. She felt her face break out into a wide grin before she realized that Derek wasn't alone.

Chloe hurried over towards them. She needed a plan – now. Would she use their names or their aliases? No, it'd have to be their aliases, everything they had on them sported that information, not to mention their luggage would have their names on it. She was optimistic that they wouldn't have to leave them behind.

"David dear," Chloe waved, "our luggage will be coming out of the other one," she said, hoping that it sounded casual and believable enough.

Derek gave her the briefest of glances, indifferent even. She looked at his company, two men; she would place the dark haired one as late thirties and the blond as around their age.

"We're just finishing up," the dark haired one cheerfully replied. "It's all about networking, and to think of our luck of running into such a man of talents here." He stopped and gave her a wolfish grin.

"Just hand over your business card and we'll be in touch," Chloe replied, trying to keep her face open. She wanted to growl the words without moving her jaw, but she needed to keep up her act. She needed to play the cheerful, clueless partner.

The blond one – Chloe noted that while he wasn't as big as Derek, the way he moved certainly suggested that he was athletically gifted – reached into his jacket and she tensed without thinking. She noticed that he was missing a few fingers and inwardly cringed. She didn't suspect that his missing digits impaired his fighting much. Derek couldn't do anything if they tried something. The cameras would see it all vividly. It gave her a certain advantage if push came to shove; she knew that she could do something. Exactly what would happen, she wasn't sure and wasn't sure that she wanted to know, but she mentally prepared herself that things could escalate.

He pulled out a business card and shoved it into Derek's hand.

"See you around cutie," the dark haired one grinned as he and his partner walked towards the exit. The skin on the back of her neck prickled and she cast a questioning look at Derek.

"We'll talk in the car," he explained and headed over to the luggage carousel. The belt was now moving and people were anxiously looking and checking luggage tags, hoping that their bags had made it to their final destination.

Derek grabbed their bags one by one and soon, their checked bags had accumulated into a pile next to their carry-ons.

They didn't talk much as they headed out to the parking garage.

"The rental cars are over," Chloe began as Derek picked up his pace, leaving her behind. "Excuse me, did you hear me?"

"We have a loaner car." It was a gruff, short reply.

Chloe sped up her pace, trying to keep up with his long strides and managing her bags was proving to be not only a physical demanding challenge but a mental one too. The uneven floor would cause one bag to veer opposite of the others, threatening to turn over and make her stop.

Derek found the car that he was looking for, a bright red convertible mustang. He grabbed their bags and put them in the trunk. He hesitated before getting in, making a face as he settled in the driver's seat.

"You alright?"

Derek took in a deep breath through his mouth and gave her a nod. He started up the car and they left.

* * *

><p>They pulled into a rundown motel on the edge of town. They didn't talk on the drive. Chloe had wanted too, but she had realized with a jolt that she must have fallen asleep as soon as they were on the highway.<p>

"I'll grab the bags, you can go in and get cleaned up," Derek said quietly. Chloe nodded and sleepily made their way to their room. She looked at the keycard and saw that they were on the first floor – directly in front of the car.

She walked in and tried to ignore the mustiness of the room. It appeared that this motel didn't see much traffic and as a result, some rooms were neglected more than others. Derek followed shortly behind her, only taking two trips to bring in all of their bags. He opened up her carryon and started arranging the runes. She watched him wordless as he worked. She felt a pang of guilt for thinking that he had abandoned her.

"I'll finish doing this, go on and grab a shower to get that … smell off of you, and if you wouldn't mind, washing your hair," Derek said, not looking up at her as he was walking around the room.

Normally, Chloe would be offended at the suggestion that she stank. But, today was an exception, and she did feel a bit grimy from dealing with planes and airports for the majority of the day. She went into the bathroom and showered.

* * *

><p>Chloe walked back into their room and saw that the runes had been arranged. She gripped the towel as she looked through her suitcase for something to sleep in. She had noticed that there was only one bed in their room. She wasn't sure what that meant; she knew that when Kit booked rooms for them, he always had options of how many beds or how many rollaway beds. She briefly entertained what possessed Derek to pick this option.<p>

It was a fleeting thought that was extinguished when she saw him camped out in a once-overstuffed chair. She noticed that he had moved it from being near the bathroom to the opposite side of the room – in the corner by the heater/air conditioner.

She went back into the bathroom, dressed, and came back out. Derek wordlessly slipped by her to grab his own shower. She crawled underneath the covers and grabbed the remote control. It had been a while since they had access to more than three channels. She watched him as he came out of the tiny bathroom. She immediately noted that he was shirtless, shorts slung low on his waist. Or in other words, it was slightly more clothing than he usually slept in.

"So we're staying in the rest of the night?" Chloe eyed the alarm on the bedside table, already approaching one in the morning.

"I think so," he grumbled, his voice fatigued.

"So – briefing now or in the morning?"

Derek ran his fingers through his hair. It was becoming borderline unkempt. Chloe was helpless with things of that nature. Tori was the one that helped him with that. Tori was the one that helped her with many things – playing with more dyes, different shades of red, blonde, highlights, lowlights – but she wasn't with them this time.

He didn't answer as he joined her under the covers.

Chloe nudged him.

"We have until tomorrow night to make our decision. Either I get out of town and don't come back – and it was more than suggested that if I want to keep breathing, I take that one – or I show up on their front step and try to enjoy the last few minutes I have breathing."

"What?"

"Ramon must have tipped them off that I was asking about them."

"That doesn't make any sense. Ramon would have mentioned that you weren't alone."

"Well, maybe they didn't believe that a necromancer would be travelling with a werewolf. Maybe he didn't mention it. Maybe, hell, I don't know."

"Granted I don't remember one hundred percent of what I said," Chloe grinned sheepishly, "but I remember Ramon's face clear as day. He isn't looking to piss us off. It must have been someone else. Or something else. Maybe they have a spell done on the airport that alerts them to any unfamiliar werewolves. They could have paid a witch or sorcerer to do that."

"I suppose that's possible."

"So where are we going now?"

Derek sighed as he let the back of his head hit the headboard.

"I was serious about the raising. I would do that," Chloe said quietly, the '_for you_' not needing to spoken.

"No, that's just – we just need to figure out where we're going."

Chloe traced shapes on Derek's arm, looking down at it. "Well," she began, "we could see about trying to find some sort of Cain homestead. Maybe find out their side of the story."

"We wouldn't get the option to walk away there. Or if we were taken in, Carter would see about eliminating me as soon as he possibly could and you – _no_."

"The only other thing I can think of is going back to the lab."

Even after all of these years, Derek's body tensed at the mention of his first home.

"Were you able to even tell them that we were seeking them out for help?"

Derek shook his head. "It was a mostly one way conversation. The brown haired guy did the talking, the blond glared, and I couldn't get a word in edge wise."

Chloe pointed the remote at the television and turned it off.

"I go up there alone. I tell them what is going on and then when you come in, you're not torn to pieces," Chloe stated in a matter of fact tone.

"We need to go to bed if you're tired enough that _that_ seems like something I'd agree to."

"I'm serious, Derek."

Derek leaned over and gently placed his lips on her forehead. He caught the time – now almost two – and groaned.

"We need sleep. We'll talk about it some more in the morning."

* * *

><p>They scarcely talked while they were re-packing their bags in the morning. If they wanted to not waste another forty-nine dollars on this dump of a room, they needed to be out by eleven. They had woken up at ten.<p>

Chloe sat in the red mustang, waiting for Derek to come back from the front office. She had resolved herself. She would be the one that made the first contact. It would have to be her. She wasn't a werewolf; she wouldn't be seen as a threat to them. Once she was able to explain what was going on, they would have to do something about the situation. While their Pack knowledge was limited, they did know that they served as a police force for werewolves. Werewolves attacking sorcerers, nevertheless important Cabal sorcerers, would definitely be something they would have to respond to.

Chloe smiled when Derek got back in the car.

"Let's make today fun," she said.

"Fun."

"You know, impending doom, chaos, whatever is about to rain all over our heads. Let's have a normal day."

"A normal day."

Chloe rolled her eyes, only noticing now that they were on the road headed towards Bear Valley.

"We can pick up lunch somewhere, then we can explore the town in the afternoon, maybe they have a museum or theater, or something, we can grab some dinner and then action time."

"We can think of something else," Derek said quietly in a pleading tone.

"I'll be fine. I'll try contacting Liz after lunch. Maybe now that we're … back in New York, maybe she'll respond."

Liz. It had been a long time since Chloe had been able to contact her. She had been able to contact her in the first months since they joined up with Project Phoenix in their new utopia, but one day, Liz stopped coming. It both ate at Chloe and was a relief. If Liz had made whatever peace she needed or received whatever resolution she needed to fully pass over, Chloe would be happy about that. However, Chloe suspected, the town had something done to it to where she couldn't summon her. Maybe her trainers were concerned with her becoming overly friendly with ghosts and treating every ghost as if they were Liz – helpful, good natured, not angry at the world and the necromancers for not being immediately available when they had a whim.

Derek gave a brief nod as he continued to drive.

* * *

><p>The afternoon simultaneously evaporated and dragged on for eternity. While they were talking, the minutes sped by, but when they hit a sore subject or a pause, time stopped. They found a park after lunch and spent their afternoon walking the various trails. It was a decently large park, full of trees, trails, and surprisingly lacking a crowd on a nice autumn day.<p>

Something just felt right about being in the woods with Derek. Chloe couldn't explain it – it certainly didn't make sense considering there were always some animal remains laying around – but she didn't question it. Happiness – that is what it was. It warmed her and she embraced the feeling, etching it into her memory.

"Do you remember the first _walk_ we had?"

Derek snorted. "Of course."

Chloe squeezed Derek's hand and leaned into him. "Woods outside a run-down motel, having to go out there because every time someone would walk in," Chloe grinned.

"We had a nice system figured out before too long."

"Mmm," Chloe agreed, "you and your Changes."

"You helped a lot with those. If you hadn't found me at the house or gotten off the bus with me," he trailed off, his eyes ever vigilant on the wooded path.

Chloe squeezed his hand in response.

"Even now," he trailed off, "it's … different when you're not around."

"Really?"

Derek nodded. "It doesn't come as easily."

"It's not like you could have told me this when, say, you first found out about it."

Derek shrugged.

"Let me guess, another brilliant training decision you didn't agree with but didn't want to complain too much about it?"

"Yes – no," Derek started. "I need to be able to Change when you're not around in the event that … something happens and you're not there. Back at Andrew's," he trailed off.

A twig snapped and Derek looked at the direction it came from. Chloe stopped, trying to not cause any unnecessary noise. After a minute of not hearing, seeing, or smelling anything, Derek relaxed, slightly.

They continued their walk in silence when Chloe stopped and looked at Derek. He was, again, looking around to see if there was anyone following them.

"The hell with this," she muttered as she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down. She met his lips with her own, playfully moving them. She hung there for a minute, temporarily forgetting the elephant in the forest. She grinned when she felt him respond.

Chloe suddenly pulled back, gave Derek a mischievous grin, and ran into the forest.

* * *

><p>Chloe strained her ears to listen for any sign of Derek. She had taken great care to make sure that her trail was difficult to follow. From leaping on rocks, circling trees in patterns, backtracking, and walking on both sides and in a small stream, Chloe had clearly paid attention to her lessons.<p>

She tried to stay still, she was tucked under a bush by a fallen and hollowed out log. She had hoped that her backtracking was good enough to make it seem as though her trail vanished halfway in the log.

Birds chirped in the distance, she swore she heard something moving around behind the bush. She thought she heard the leaves rustle but was it only the breeze? She couldn't chance it. It had been a long time since they had a mock hunt, and she was certainly pleased with the outcome. The last time they had one, Derek found her within twenty minutes. She looked down at her watch, it was easily past thirty now.

She felt a twinge of guilt. She knew that if Derek didn't find her soon, she'd offer herself up out of a concern for his well-being. She shoved the guilt aside though. How many times had he griped at her for leaving a sloppy trail? This was delicious payback and she was going to enjoy every moment. Afterwards, Derek would be impressed too. If he gave her any grief, she'd point out that she had only followed the advice he had given her throughout the years.

It wasn't her fault that she had turned into a rapt student.

A twig snapped off to her right. Chloe tried to make herself even lower to the ground, counting her breathes, and watching.

Another twig snapped to her left.

Alarm bells went off in her head. Someone was out there. There wouldn't just happen to be two something on both sides of her. Were they just local kids? Were they looking for something? Her gut plummeted, were they looking for Derek? Was it the Pack? Had they decided they couldn't wait a few more hours?

She tried summoning Liz, taking great care to start a slow pull. The primeval part of her brain yelled at her to just slam open the door, to let whatever come, the mission was that she had to get out right _now_. She closed her eyes, willing herself to try to remain as calm as possible. She opened her eyes briefly; she needed to be sure that Liz hadn't arrived. It was just a false hope. Liz would announce her arrival, probably by a gusty "Hi Chloe!" followed by "Where the hell have you been?" complete with a grin.

She tried pulling slightly harder; she gripped her pendant with her right hand.

More twigs snapped but were they fading or getting closer? Or was it a sign of more people? And _damn it_, where was Derek? While she was quite proud of herself, she knew that Derek should have found her by now. Was he nearby, watching what was going on around her?

Voices.

Chloe stopped summoning, her face slightly gleaming from sweat. She tried to steady her breathing and lock her muscles. If she rattled this bush, it would be game over.

She heard voices; they would become louder, stop, and then fade, only to be replaced by others. Were they watching or waiting for her? Or Derek?

Chloe mentally berated herself for this. A mock hunt not only in an unfamiliar place, but near the Pack's headquarters and after they had expressed their less than welcome mat? And considering they hadn't done this in years? Idiotic. Stupid.

Chloe stopped, the voices had stopped. She strained to listen again, no twigs were snapping. Chloe counted to sixty. She didn't hear anything.

She took off. She ran downwind, hoping that she was running towards Derek. Derek – if she could get to him, they could get in the car and go anywhere but here. They could live their lives as David and Melissa Moore and she'd be fine with it. She's sign on to a one way trip to Antarctica if it presented itself. She just wanted to keep them both living.

Her pulse pounded in her ears, her footfalls sounded as though they were drums. She stumbled a few times, but always caught herself at the last minute. Precious seconds, wasted.

Her body screamed for her to slow down, that she couldn't maintain this frantic, panicked pace too much longer. Logically she should slow down and summon whatever was in the forest, let an undead animal horde convince whoever that they didn't want to keep following her. Chloe's brain wasn't thinking logically – it was reacting on instinct. She had to keep running; stopping would only lead to the end. As long as she was moving, hope remained alive, for her and for Derek, that she could escape this time.

She saw a figure ahead, tall, dark hair, squatting close to the ground to find a trail. Her heart leapt at the sight. Derek. She had made it. They would get out of this by the scrape of their teeth. Forget the Pack; she wouldn't pay them any more attention after this.

Her grin widened as she closed in on him.

"Derek," she gasped as she slowed down a few feet from him. "Pack. Or people. Or someone. Woods. We have to leave now," she sputtered out. While she considered herself in shape, she would never be a runner. She wasn't sure how far she ran but she was sure enough that she had beaten any previous personal bests.

He nodded and stood up without saying a word.

"We got to go," Chloe sputtered again, urgency in her voice. She grabbed at his arm. Only, that wasn't the shirt that Derek had on earlier. Did he Change and grab some extra clothes from his bag? It was hard to keep track of what clothes they had these days.

"We certainly do," he grumbled before he tackled her to the ground.

Chloe looked up at him. Bright green eyes, only, instead of warmth, they were stone cold. The face was different. She immediately noticed every single other difference, the callouses on the hands that pinned her arms down, the smell permeating from him, his grin. It was all different, foreign.

She tried, but she kept going back to the eyes. Bright green, they looked so much like Derek's. Her panicked brain kicked into overdrive, putting it together – Cains.

"I don't want to hurt you, sweetheart," he said as he tightened his grip on her arms, "but if you want to get out of this alive, you need to work with me. The others won't be as accommodating."

"Just let me go, I'll leave and you'll never hear from me again."

He grinned, "That is exactly opposite what we want." He looked up and tilted his head to the side, focusing on listening.

Chloe lurched over to her side, dislodging the grip he had on her arms. She stumbled and only made it a few steps before another set of eyes greeted her.

"He wasn't kidding Chloe," the newcomer grinned.

Chloe swore her heart slowed to only a few beats from stopping completely.

Carter.

The man behind her grabbed her. She felt a prick on her skin, immediately followed by a burning sensation.

Her world started spinning and then went black.


	4. Familiar Faces

Chapter 4: Familiar Faces

A/N: Thank you all for continuing to read and review! My drabbles-for-reviews is still going on for the first ten people. You can find the drabbles I wrote for chapter 3 in Tales of Another Life. I'll also have another note at the bottom since these chapters are so long! If you were wanting to watch or catch up on Bitten, the finale airs tomorrow in Canada and on Monday for the US! Let me know if you're interested in chatting about it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the _Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the Otherworld_ series.

* * *

><p>Her head felt groggy, as though she had slept too long. Her other senses were also dull – her limbs felt lazy and unwilling to move, her eyes unwilling to focus, her hearing was absent. They slowly returned to her.<p>

She didn't recognize the room she was in.

She tried sitting up but she was too weak. She tried a few times but each time, her vision spun.

"Take it easy there," a voice comforted her. Her brain knew that she recognized the voice; it was slow on identifying it.

She turned her head to look at the source.

"Oh no," she said. "They got you too."

She leaned against Derek, his arms wrapping around her.

"So much for all of that training to not be bait," she sighed. It had been pointed out to her numerous times that she did not have the best offensive abilities. While she could raise plenty of corpses, that took valuable time. She instead had insisted on physical training. She had started running, lifting weights, and found out that obstacle courses were not as bad as expected due to her previous gymnastics training. She had thought herself to be in decent shape. She wasn't amazing. She knew she couldn't outrun or out lift anyone, but she knew that by doing these things she could buy herself time. It looked like her well-intentioned plan blew up in her face.

"You gave it your best. That's all you can do."

"Where are we?" Chloe looked around. It looked like a regular bedroom. She couldn't see any bars on the windows, the lock on the door seemed typical, and she noted that she was restraint free.

"Well," Derek sighed. "I don't know exactly _where_, but the _who_ is pretty apparent."

He nodded over to the door that was opening.

"The sleeping princess awakes," the voice cackled from the door. Chloe looked over at him and glared over at him.

"I was making a joke," the man said, trying to put her at ease.

She looked over at him – he was about Derek's height, same hair, and the same eyes. He was older though – she guessed maybe five years or so, it wasn't by much. From behind, it'd be easy to mistake him for Derek – which she then realized that he was the man that she thought was Derek in the park.

"I'm Nate," he said, trying to lure her into conversation. "Nate Cain."

Chloe rolled her eyes – as if she couldn't have figured out that he was a Cain.

"Are you two ready to talk? Or, you can stay in here and do something. I can get you stuff – food, drink, games, whatever. You need to make a choice."

Chloe grabbed at her necklace, a habit she had formed, seeking reassurance. Her hand came up empty. She spun around to Derek.

"My necklace," she whispered.

"Can you give us a few minutes," he asked Nate. He shrugged and closed the door. Derek waited a moment, listening how far he was going from the door.

"When was the last time you remember having it?"

"The woods, right before they grabbed me. Oh – what if I lost it there? The chain might have broken or they yanked it off," Chloe trailed off, her eyes wide with fright.

Derek looked around the room. He went through drawers, the closet; he even looked under the bed. He only found a few meager dust bunnies.

He strode over to the door and gave it a quick rap.

"We're not talking until we get what was taken from us."

Nate opened the door and looked at him, blankly.

Derek repeated himself.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just follow orders. I can go and check."

"I'd suggest you do that," Derek tersely replied.

"Derek," Chloe whispered, eyes widening as she looked around the room. "I believe they were expecting us."

Runes covered the walls, the same runes, only smaller as if they were to remain hidden, that she had in all of their makeshift homes.

Her eyes continued to scan the walls. Instead of the usual calming feeling, her skin prickled. It was an intrusion of sorts. No one could have possibly have known this unless they had been spying on them.

Nate came back a moment later.

"It's that necklace, right? Well, you'll get it back once you're ready to talk."

Derek glared at him. He was slightly taller than Nate, but Nate didn't seem bothered by it.

"So are you guys coming or do you want me to come by later?"

Chloe glanced over at Derek. She started to stand but grabbed at the bed. Her vision was still spinning.

"You okay?" Nate asked.

"Just lightheaded, must be a side effect from whatever you gave me," she glared at him.

Derek came over and helped her. They followed Nate down the hallway. She noted that he was walking slowly. Part of her wanted to thank him for that, but it was quickly squashed when she reminded that part that he was part of the reason she was in this mess.

"If you need any help," Nate stopped and offered his arm. Chloe pushed past him and Derek glared. Nate simply shrugged and continued on, leading them to the end of the hallway to a flight of stairs. They were in a house, Chloe realized. They were going down to the main level and she stopped midway down the stairs.

"Huh," she said. She looked at the walls – the runes were painted on them, just like the ones in the room she and Derek woke up in.

They continued down the stairs. She looked at the living room – sofas, overstuffed chairs, big fireplace.

"You just sit tight right here, I'll be back in a minute," Nate gestured at the couch and disappeared into a room off the side.

Chloe looked around. Why kidnap them if they were taking them to a regular house? It wasn't making any sense. She tried to come up with possible reasons for their motivations, slipping back into her comfort zone. If this was a movie, how would she structure the scene? Handle the motivations of the Cains? Was this some sort of bait and switch with regards to who is the antagonist to the heroine?

If this was some sort of prison, it was atypical. Perhaps it was a form of psychological prison? Treating prisoners as guests to ensure their compliance or a lack of desire for getting out?

Derek watched as Nate reappeared.

"There's a bit of a hold up. Not everyone is here, so we'll have some time to kill," he casually said as he sat in a chair opposite them.

"You need anything? The kitchen is just down the hall, bathrooms are the other way. Rules are that it can only be one at a time."

Chloe watched Nate. He seemed personable enough. It was another tic for the psychological side.

"I'll be right back," Derek whispered, uneasily watching Nate. He stood and walked in the direction Nate had motioned the bathrooms were. Chloe watched as he rounded the corner and disappeared into the hallway.

"You're one of Derek's cousins, right?"

"Yeah, our daddies were brothers. His name was Eric. Carter is our cousin too – his daddy was Keith. It went Eric, Zack, that's Derek's daddy if you didn't know, and then a bit later, Keith."

"Are they here," Chloe asked. If he kept talking about family, maybe he would give her an idea on how many werewolves they were dealing with. Just Nate and Carter together would be more than enough to give Derek trouble. If the entire clan was here, they would have to make their escape by something other than brute force.

"Nah, that generation was wiped out a long time ago. Well, the older part. Keith isn't much older than me."

Chloe's face must have betrayed her surprise at how casual he was about the deaths as he started talking again.

"I mean, yeah, they died a while back. Granddaddy raised Carter, Arnold and me. We didn't see too much of them anyway. They weren't really hands on dads. But that's normal; they were pretty young when they had us. I mean," he started stumbling over his words. "I mean, Derek doesn't seem to be like that though. He'd stick around. Certainly helps that you already know what he is and that you're not just a regular human too."

Chloe gave a small laugh. Clearly they had been spying on them for some time if he was rushing to cover for something like that. It made her uneasy but perhaps she could use his nature against him.

"You don't have girls over often, do you?"

"Nope and usually I'm a few beers and shots in."

Chloe shook her head slowly, allowing a small smile. Nate certainly filled the Cain stereotype – he was big as house, he didn't seem particularly bright, and, well, while he wasn't attractive, he wasn't horribly unattractive. He was the type of guy that would be trying to get numbers when the bar was closing. Once he got past the looks hurdle – which was probably a decent hurdle if he was looking for one night stands, like most werewolves – he'd be set. Sure, he might not be a looker, but at least he had a good personality and seemed kind and caring. Or in other words, he seemed to be the exact opposite of Carter.

She wanted to relax around him. But that would be another tally for the psychological prison. Being treated well? Being treated as if they weren't prisoners? It was supposed to provide them another reason not to leave as soon as possible. If this wasn't some sort of act, perhaps she could use it to her advantage.

"You mentioned an Arnold?"

"He was Derek's half-brother. He died a few years ago. He had a bigger mouth than he did skills and it finally caught up with him. He always made it seem like he was some sort of, sort of gladiator. Hell, he could have passed for one. He was one huge son of a bitch. Made Carter and I look like runts. Hell, even Derek would look a bit on the smaller side next to him. But, shit, I shouldn't be telling you this. I don't even think Derek knows. Hell. Just don't mention that to Derek or Granddaddy. He still doesn't like talking about it. He was torn up about him for years. It wasn't until we heard about Derek that Granddaddy started acting like himself again. Shit, my mouth just keeps talking. You can't tell anyone this or I'll catch all kinds of hell."

Chloe nodded. "You know, I could use something to drink. Do you think you could get me some water? I don't trust myself to venture off."

Nate practically leapt out of the chair and headed into the kitchen.

Chloe noted that he seemed to take requests rather eagerly. This could definitely be something to remember for later.

Derek came into the room the same time Nate did. Derek watched as Nate approached her, glass in hand. Derek sped up his walk, looked at Nate, took the glass from him and gave it a sip. Was this some sort of werewolf thing? Showing that he could do this? He had some sort of claim over her and Nate needed to back off? How much of their conversation did he overhear?

"Right," Nate said awkwardly. "Is there anything else you need?"

"How long do we have to wait," Derek growled.

Nate shrugged.

"We'll be upstairs until they're ready to talk." Derek glared at him and not so gently pulled Chloe up by her arm. He dragged her up the stairs and they went back into the room they woke up in. He finally let go of her arm and she rubbed it, wincing.

"What the hell was what? Is this some sort of macho werewolf thing?"

Derek looked around the room, eyes searching for something.

"Get away from the door and lower your voice," he mouthed. Chloe walked over and sat on the bed next to him.

"Are you okay?"

"Let's see, I woke up after being drugged, I am apparently kidnapped, and you went all cave man on me after I asked Nate to fetch me a glass of water. I mean, seriously?" She rubbed at her arm. "We have enough disadvantages without you trying to dislocate my arm."

Derek winced.

"I was trying to get him to spill some information, but I didn't get very far," Chloe said, not mentioning Derek's late half-brother. If she wanted to keep Nate as an informant, she had to keep some of what he told her confidential. "I got as far as the family tree and I was going to try to get him to talk about who all was here before cave man showed up to the party."

"I overheard a few things in the hallway." He paused for a moment and continued."They were talking about the Cabals. They first were talking about the Nasts and the St. Clouds. Then they mentioned the Cortezes. I remember Sean saying something about them – that they're the Nasts' main competition or something like that."

"Anything else?"

"No, I think they might have heard me in the hall. They either lowered their voices or moved further away, but I couldn't hear them after that."

"So what do you think it is? They kidnap us from one Cabal to sell us to another? The Cortezes? Or ransom us back to the Nasts or the St. Clouds?"

"I don't know. I don't think we're going to find out much more until they decide to sit down with us. Hopefully that will be soon."

Chloe nodded. She wasn't sure what she needed more, information or her necklace. She felt naked without it, vulnerable as a newborn kitten, trying to navigate a world that was filled with darkness.

"Is it bad," Derek gestured at her arm.

"It's been a while since you grabbed at me that hard," she admitted. She didn't push up her sleeve. She didn't want to see the ugly bruise.

"I mean, yeah, that is bad, but I meant not having your necklace."

"Oh," she blushed. "I don't know. I think the drug is finally wearing off. The runes are helping some but," she paused and closed her eyes. "The runes are acting like a barrier, of sorts. I can still feel a few around, but I'm not seeing anything. Famous last words," she grinned.

* * *

><p>Nate was at the door again. It was time for dinner. Chloe and Derek followed him through the house to the kitchen.<p>

Chloe tried to eat. She really did.

If Nate and the other werewolf noticed, they didn't say anything. Derek nudged her a few times, but that was it.

She was able to eat a few bites, but combining nerves and some leftover queasiness from being drugged left her with little to no appetite.

She was bustled off to the living room. She watched Nate and the other one, trying to see what they were up to. There wasn't any conversation at dinner. She wasn't entirely surprised – Derek rarely talked while there was food on the table.

"Carter should have been back by now," the older one said, throwing another log into the fireplace.

Chloe looked at him – really _looked_ at him. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, gray streaks were plentiful in his otherwise black hair, green eyes, and a scowl that matched Derek's. There was something else about his face that looks similar but she couldn't place it.

"It's been so long since we had a guest, I forgot my manners," he started. "Chloe, I'm glad that you're here. I'm Theo Cain, Derek's grandfather. I hope you'll forgive me for your arrival here. I didn't know of any other way that we could get your attention."

Chloe glared at him. A voice in her head suggested that it wasn't the brightest idea. A werewolf wouldn't live to his age unless he was good at running away or a fighter and his physique certainly didn't suggest that he was a fan of running.

"I take it that you're a bit mad at us – hell, I'd be disappointed if you weren't. From what I've heard, I should be glad that I don't have undead dogs breaking in," he laughed. Nate joined in, awkwardly.

She looked over to Derek, his face was blank.

"I suppose you've seen our new wall decorations," he gestured at the runes. "I guess that might have put a damper on some of your plans."

Chloe didn't deem it worthy of a response. If she wanted to summon something, she knew that even these runes wouldn't stop her. If they didn't know that, she could use it to her advantage. She could summon Liz later tonight and then they could get out.

"I don't know how much Derek told you after his eavesdropping session earlier, but we want to help you Chloe, you and your other friends back at that place. Messing with genetics and magic and who knows what, that just isn't right. It really isn't right when they did it to you kids. And I want you to know that we don't expect any sort of favor in return for this. This is our way of apologizing to Derek here. If we had known about him, we would have come for him, him and the other boys, even if they weren't Zack's. Zack should have told us but I suspect that he was tricked somehow. He brought his other boy back here, like he should have, so he must have not known about you, Derek."

This was old news to Chloe. Derek had told her about how Theo had told him that he would have rescued him from the Edison Group laboratory if he had known about his existence. This was years ago, a few months after they had brought down the laboratory but prior to joining up with Project Phoenix and the Nasts. Theo, Nate, and Carter had somehow found out about Derek – it was possible that Andrew tipped them off since he was also considering his options with giving Derek over to the Pack – and tracked them down. They had kidnapped Derek and planned to take him back to their home, wherever that was. Carter, however, didn't like the idea of Theo gaining a new grandson – the only living son of his _favorite_ son – and had let Derek go if he promised to never try to contact them.

"Now, I suspect I have an idea what you two were planning, but I'd like to hear it myself."

As if on cue, footsteps sounded in the hallway and Carter strode into the room. He only looked at Theo and Nate, before plopping down in a chair. He turned and grinned at Chloe, a predatory grin that made her skin crawl.

Memories of Carter flashed back – the feel of the pressure around her neck, knowing that it wouldn't take much for it to snap. She _would _summon Liz tonight. Someone needed to keep an eye on him.

"If you want me to listen, he," Chloe jerked her head over to Carter, "needs to go."

Derek muttered softly, "Chloe, that isn't the best idea."

Carter just grinned. "What? You're holding that little thing against me? That was years ago, sweetie."

Chloe looked over to Theo. "Did he ever tell you how Derek got away when you kidnapped him the last time? He let him go – but not before threatening to snap my neck or say that he would do it again if our paths crossed again."

Carter's face darkened.

Theo interjected, "That was a different time, Chloe. I apologize for Carter's actions. He was just a boy. Derek, you need to tell us what you were planning to do. We want to help you the best we can but we can't do that if you're not telling us the whole story."

Carter continued to glower, Derek shifted uneasily, and Chloe watched him. Surely he wouldn't tell them.

"We were going to the Pack." Derek paused.

"We know that son. Hell, you were on their doorstep. You're lucky we found you when we did."

"We were going to tell them … we found a body in the woods, where we had been living. It looked as though it was a werewolf kill. We thought we'd tell them so they wouldn't think I did it." Derek kept it as short and concise as possible. The less they had to give up, the better. The Cains didn't need to know that Derek wanted to tell them about the experiments.

A soft laugh sounded from the back of the room.

She watched as a man stepped out of the shadows. He didn't look like a Cain. He had a normal build, dark hair, and blue eyes. Her gut told her that he wasn't normal. His presence sent chills down her spine.

He gave Carter a look and Carter went to the other sofa, next to Nate. Theo gave him a brief nod and sat down next to Carter.

Chloe watched him as he made his way in front of them, taking Theo's place by the fire. His presence demanded her full attention.

"Who are _you_?" she asked.

Her question caused him to laugh again.

"I like her," he replied. "She has spunk. You don't hear about necromancers with spunk these days. It's a nice change of pace. I wonder if that was one of the things that they tweaked about you – giving you some spunk," he mused to himself. He continued after a brief pause.

"You're just a tiny thing. I would have thought that power would have to be contained in a larger package," he laughed. "It's been a long time since I had to introduce myself to anybody. I'm Malcolm Danvers, _the_," he added.

Chloe looked over to Derek, noting that he wasn't looking him in the eye. She hoped that he would offer some sort of context for that introduction. When Derek didn't, she turned back to Malcom and shrugged.

"You've heard or seen those pictures that the Pack likes to send out? A reminder of what happens when a werewolf steps out of line?"

Chloe gave a nod.

"I'm the one who taught Clayton how to think like that," he grinned.

Chloe's face paled.

"That itself is a fascinating story. But – I'm interested in helping you. You see, you're not the only experiments that the Cabals have. They have a lot of experiments. Some are willing, some are coerced, some, well, I don't suppose you signed up for yours either.

"Now, I've figured out this 'plan' that you two have," he continued. "You want to go to the Pack, tell them about the experiments, about the group and the Cabals. That sounds logical – you want some blood spilled, the Pack was once a good place to go to air those types of grievances since it included some mistreatment of a werewolf by _others_. It _was_, you see, until years ago and the leadership changed. The Pack is now a kinder, _gentler_, Pack. Sure, the pictures aren't kind, but it stopped the constant bloodshed over there. Years pass on and werewolves start becoming involved in the supernatural community again. Before, werewolves weren't part of it. We had no interest in it. But, as I said, things change. There is a werewolf delegate on the Interracial Council, a place to air grievances between the different races. If you had known about it, I'm sure you would consider going to them. But," his voice grew colder, quieter, each word more venomous than the previous, "you can't do that. And do you know why?"

He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. "Cabals have influence in the council. Hell, they practically run the damn thing. It's nothing more than a _sham_."

Chloe felt her stomach drop. Their plan, according to him, was useless. If they follow through and go to the Pack, they would just be handed back to a Cabal, or worse. She questioned herself, would going back be an option? They had proven they could escape and remain on the run. They wouldn't just be put back where they were. No, they would be locked up somewhere. Or it could be something else entirely – torture, more experiments, death, but then she caught herself. No, she supposed, death wouldn't be the worst possible option, it would be the ideal.

"You see, I have my own complaint with Cabals. I'm another non-volunteered experiment."

Chloe eyed him over. If he was telling the truth, he would understand the anger, the rage that came from not knowing what was done to them. He would understand the thirst for freedom. He would understand the longing to go, disappear, and never hear anything about experiments or Cabals ever again.

She wanted to believe him. She desperately wanted too.

"What did they do to you?"

"You want an overview of the entire list or just a few examples?"

Chloe looked back to Derek. He was looking at him now, but he still wasn't looking him in the eye.

Malcolm continued, "There was first the matter of being cryogenically frozen for six months at a time. There were the associated physical tests that came after that – to be expected, of course. You can't just stick a man in a freezer for six months and expect he's exactly the same as he went in. You have to test him, prod him, whatever they felt like doing that day.

"There were others, but that is the overview of it. Smart Nasts scientists made sure I couldn't remember too much of what they did to me. Afraid if I ever managed to break the chains, I'd go and expose them for the monsters they really are."

"We weren't Nasts experiments. We were St. Clouds."

"When they bought you – yes, _bought_ – they got all of your papers with you. They needed to know what prodding had already been done."

Chloe looked over to Theo, Nate and Carter. Nate seemed uncomfortable; Carter seemed tense, while Theo merely looked resigned.

"And why exactly are we here?"

Malcolm stood directly in front of her, squatting down to look her in the eyes.

"Because I'm going to get you those papers and expose those sons of a bitches for what they really are."

* * *

><p>"How do we know that these runes aren't some sort of summoning blocking type? What if they're not the normal ones?"<p>

Chloe had been trying to summon Liz for close to an hour. She sat on her bed, tightly clutching her newly regained pendant.

Derek sat on the floor and shrugged.

"We _need_ Liz. We need to know what they're saying."

Derek gave her a look.

"Werewolf hearing isn't any advantage when dealing with other werewolves. They know how to communicate without being heard. They've already proven that today."

Chloe resumed trying to summon. In frustration, she thought of taking her pendant off, but that was quickly squashed. The last time she had done that, she had heard her mother's voice for the first time since she was six years old and she was telling her to put it back on. It was too dangerous to be without it, that if she didn't have it, _he_ would find her. She didn't know who her mother was referring to, but the panic in her words was enough for Chloe to take it seriously. She always thought she was talking about Royce or Dr. Banks, more Edison Project members.

Chloe sighed in frustration.

"Why didn't you ask them about the scents?"

"What?"

"You said you smelled Cains at Sean's grave."

"I did. It just didn't seem like the best time to reveal that."

"I could try summoning Sean. He could tell us what really happened. If the Cains give us a different story, we can bolt our first chance without any lingering doubts."

"If you're having trouble summoning Liz, I don't know if Sean is going to work either. Have you tried summoning a sorcerer before?"

"Not on purpose."

"I imagine they have some sort of spell or potion they drink that would prevent that."

"If it's a spell, there's a shot, maybe. Liz can move things around, and Diane could cast a glamour spell on herself, but I don't know if Sean could perform that powerful of a spell on his own spirit."

"They didn't cover this type of stuff with your training?"

Chloe shrugged. "It was mostly me standing there being gawked at. Sometimes I sat. I think they mostly wanted me to practice summoning without opening the floodgates. I don't think they would have liked the idea of me summoning a sorcerer."

"Do you want your tea?"

Chloe shook her head.

"Good. I want to say we can trust them for this bit, but best be cautious."

"Did they mention the timeframe they were looking at?"

"We'll be here for a while. Whatever Malcolm had done to him, he's not where he needs to be. He and Theo wanted to see my fighting skills – in human form," he quickly added. "They don't expect me to be comfortable enough to Change with them around."

"But you have to Change at some point. It's been almost a week."

"I know," he grumbled, rubbing his arm.

"Can't you just do it in here?"

Derek looked around the room.

"I don't know how well that would work. There really isn't room for me to get some energy out."

"See? You have been Changing by yourself for a while. I forgot about what a spaz you are at first."

"I am not a _spaz_."

"You could actually play your part with fetch."

Derek rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>They stayed mostly in their room for several days. Occasionally Nate would knock on the door to announce that a food tray had been left by the door.<p>

Close to a week, Chloe was close to climbing the walls. Their room had started out as an oasis in a pit of lies now felt like a chokehold against her very being. Derek's moods ranged. He would go from withdrawn and sullen to trying to cheer her up, only to retreat into himself again.

She was driving herself crazy. The summoning _still _wasn't working. Derek was doing the same, and even worse, they were only making it worse for the other. They needed to be united, not alternating between building each other up and down.

She left the room. She ran down the stairs. She went past the sofas in the living room and stopped at the door that led to the outdoors.

Could she do it?

She grasped the door handle. She was surprised that Derek wasn't on her this instant. Perhaps he needed a break from their self-inflicted paranoia.

"They're out there, you know," a cold voice whispered. "Nasts, St. Clouds, probably even the Cortezes and Boyds are making up contingency plans in case you somehow fall into their hands."

"Why would you care? Because you're some other sort of experiment? We should instantly team up and everything will work out?"

"You saw how well that plan worked out," Malcolm snickered. He laid his hand over hers, removing it from the door handle. "If you are to stand a chance out there, you need actual lessons, training."

"I've already had that."

"No, you didn't. But that is later – I'll ensure that you will have a proper instructor if you make a deal with me."

Chloe looked up at him, her eyes meeting his.

"You convince Derek to let me train him."

A cold shiver went through her. Let Malcolm train Derek? The same man responsible for creating the monster that resulted in werewolves being hacked to death by chainsaws just because they weren't born into a certain family?

"You see, if I don't get this, the entire thing is off. You are thrown back out into the unknown to fend for yourself. I doubt there are any plans of the Cains leaving without Derek, so you need my help to ensure that you aren't left to fend for yourself out in these woods."

Chloe searched his eyes, but they were hard, cold.

"I still don't see how I can convince him."

Malcolm leaned down, his lips brushing her ear.

"You don't have much time left before the madness takes you. I've heard your dreams, you don't have long."

* * *

><p>Chloe sat in the kitchen. She felt dirty, despite showering twice after her conversation with Malcolm. She could still feel his hand, his lips. Her body inwardly recoiled at the memory of the unwanted contact.<p>

Derek came in and sat beside her. His face was walled off. He was only inches away and yet, felt as though miles separated them.

"He didn't say what type of training?"

Chloe whipped her head around.

"You thought I would just stay in the room while you stormed off to who knows where? I saw it. I saw everything."

A feeling of shame coursed through her, followed by anger. She didn't have anything to be ashamed of. She had been cornered. She hadn't _done_ anything.

"Then you would have seen that the exchange wasn't my choice."

"You could have done something."

"Can we not do this, please? He got in close. Big whoop."

"You – can you try not to let it happen again?"

"I didn't go looking for it in the first place."

"Right, shit, sorry."

"This cave man macho bullshit is old. I don't need this garbage on top of everything else."

"I'll try harder. It's just different. We've, I've never have had other werewolves behavior to take into consideration."

Chloe sighed.

"He's lying though, isn't he?"

"How could he hear my dreams? I make a peep and you're springing up. He was just trying to get under my skin, that's all."

Derek weighed it for a moment.

"I'll do it. It makes sense. I've wanted actual training from a werewolf, here it is. It seems like he would be the best that I could ask for. And if this is the only way for you to get a proper instructor … it works out."

Chloe watched him.

It did make sense logically. There was no logical reason for them to refuse. Sure, there was the objective knowledge of what they knew Malcolm was by association responsible for, the same with the Cains, but it still didn't sit right with her.

* * *

><p>Chloe winced as she watched Derek get pummeled, <em>again<em>. They weren't going full out with their strength, but it was close enough for her stomach to drop into an endless abyss when she watched him train.

He had only fought Malcolm once. It was over before it started. A werewolf with decades of fighting experience fighting other werewolves put against one who had only fought off two? It was brutal. Derek hadn't fought Malcom since. He had been training with the Cains, Carter mostly. While Carter was the smaller of the two, he had much more experience than Derek. There were times where the match was close, much closer than anyone expected, but Carter typically walked away the winner.

Derek didn't take losing too well at first. He was frustrated. All of the time at Badger Lake was proving to be wasted. He couldn't hold his own against another werewolf. If he had run into one looking for a fight, he would have lost, and it most importantly it illustrated how mind blowing lucky he was so many years ago. The idea and fear of that only drove him further into training. He fought when he shouldn't, he had injuries that never fully healed, but he insisted that he needed to continue forward. If he stopped, Malcolm may change his mind. Or worse, Carter may take that as an admission of defeat and try to convince Theo to let Derek go for good. Chloe wouldn't receive her trainer and who knows what would happen next to them.

Chloe found that she could easily talk to Nate. He was like Derek in some aspects, but he did live up to the Cain stereotype. She wasn't sure, but there might have been twelve years olds that might be able to outwit him. Nate often kept her company when Derek was training. He would point out what they were doing and what they needed to do to get the upper-hand. He was a better fighter than Carter, and Derek wouldn't fight him until he could consistently beat Carter. She both wanted to see it and dreaded it. Against her better judgment, she considered Nate less of an ally and more of an unexpected friend. She tried to get him to talk more about the Cains wanted with Derek. He didn't typically offer much, not out of suspicion, but because he didn't know. Carter knew, he always said. Theo had expectations for all three of his grandsons and how they would lead the family once he was gone. He didn't make any mention of Theo's only remaining son, Keith. It made Chloe uneasy. She knew Derek hadn't consented to his future being planned for him, but she knew that he couldn't simply turn his back on them now. They had given him the knowledge and tools for their survival. Derek knew that they didn't have to do that, he knew that they could have left Chloe back in New York by herself; he knew that and respected them for not separating them.

They had been living off of the Cains and Malcom's charity for several weeks. It was hard to keep track of time. Chloe continued to make progress in maintaining her calm but there were some instances where she didn't intentionally summon anything, but still felt the tugging sensation. It bothered her that she still hadn't heard from Liz. It stung slightly. Did she manage to finally make her peace and cross over? Or was she upset with her for some unknown reason and was ignoring her? She contemplating removing the runes but just as she was trying to broach the subject with Derek, she stopped. He would not budge on that aspect. He would want her constantly surrounded by them. He had suggested that perhaps one day she might even put several on her permanently, such as tattoos. She talked him out of that. She insisted that they needed to know everything about them before moving to such a drastic measure.

Chloe felt as though sometimes the runes were suffocating her. Perhaps they were stifling her powers, mitigating them to the point where she was essentially powerless. Surprisingly, she found that she disliked it. She felt helpless. She couldn't be of any use if she didn't have the ability to communicate with ghosts, or even raise the dead. It bothered her that it bothered her. It was an endless loop of questions and trying to sort out how she viewed herself.

They were in the thick of winter. They still hadn't told them exactly _where_ they were. Sometimes it grew cold, sometimes it snowed, but other than that, she didn't know where they were being held. She knew the basics – it was in a remote, wooded area, a place that could be in thousands of areas around the country.

It bothered her, not knowing where they were. She was surprised that Derek was less bothered than she was. She was surprised that despite his reservations, he had at least shown signs of trusting some of the Cains. Despite their previous encounter, he and Carter tolerated each other, but they rarely spoke to each other outside of practice.

Malcolm came and went. He would stay a few days, observing, telling Theo what Derek needed to work on, and then would vanish for weeks at a time. Nate didn't seem to know much about what was going on with Malcolm either, only that Theo knew.

He was due to show up soon for one of his unannounced visits. She tried to avoid him when she could, but he always found a time or two when she was alone.

* * *

><p>AN: Just a reminder that I'm offering a drabble of their choice for the first ten reviewers! If you can't come up with an idea, I can always surprise you with one. Thanks everyone!


	5. Isolation

**A/N:** This has some references to my story _Do No Harm_. If you haven't read it, I highly encourage it! There is a basic summary of parts of it in the story, but I think you'll have a better overall understanding if you have read it before. Reviewers of previous chapters - you can find your drabbles in Tales chapter 4! **First ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice (an option is also me surprising you with one!)**

The TV show _Bitten_ has finished season one. If you haven't watched it, I strongly encourage you to! You can message me if you need help with finding an online source.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the _Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the Otherworld_ series. I also don't own the movie _Up _or the studio _Pixar_.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Isolation<p>

Theo may have been old fashioned in some ways; at least he didn't expect Chloe to clean up after everyone. She was grateful for that. She was even more grateful when there was a pile of dirty dishes looming ominously in the sink.

Theo wanted to talk to Derek after dinner, Carter was off in his own world, which left Chloe to either try to occupy her time that didn't involve elaborate theories as to why they were still here or keep Nate company while he attended the dishes.

She chose company.

He was trying to scrub out a particular bit of caked on, well, _something_, when she decided that perhaps she could use this time to her advantage.

"Do you ever go out?"

"Huh?"

"You know, out. Restaurants, movies, shows, anything."

Nate paused scrubbing.

"I go to bars, sometimes movies, but only the extremely late shows. Too many people."

"Why not the early matinees?"

"See: bar," he grinned.

Chloe had forgotten about that part of being a werewolf that even made movies uncomfortable. She and Derek had gone to _one_ movie, or one whole movie. They had tried a second, but Derek simply couldn't take it. There were too many people, too many smells, and more importantly, it took forever for him to decide on a pair of seats that didn't reek of unmentionable fluids. That one movie had been nice… and now she didn't know if she could ever bring herself to go back to a theater. People were _disgusting_.

It was when the caretakers at Badger Lake were still setting everything up. After having more than a handful of teenagers getting cabin fever and then becoming _lost_ – or so the caretakers had deemed them so – in the woods, they decided that a field trip was overdue.

They – Simon, Tori, Maya, Daniel, Chloe, and Derek – had decided that a movie would be a nice way to celebrate being out in the real world. They had originally planned on sitting together as one large group. The theater was already mostly full by the time they had bought their snacks and they had precious few options if they wanted to sit together.

Derek had given her a pleading look and she suggested that they would sit by themselves. Simon and Tori had gagged while Maya had rolled her eyes. Daniel seemed to have realized that there was something amiss other than teenage hormones but didn't say anything. Chloe and Derek splintered off to their own group, where Derek had found the least offensive available seats. She was elated to do something so _normal_ as to go and see a movie with her boyfriend.

It was supposed to be a fun Pixar movie. It was supposed to be something light, to take their minds away from their troubles. The first fifteen minutes were rough. Derek spent the rest of the movie in an apathetic mood due to the dog character.

The first fifteen minutes had brought up questions; hard questions that one day would have to be asked and they would both have to reply honestly. She didn't know the answers to the questions. She told herself repeatedly that it was okay because she was _only sixteen_ and very few of her peer group could honestly answer a series of questions like that.

They were awkward after the movie. She tried to put on a good face, laughing with the others; Derek meanwhile had withdrawn and was sullen. They went out to get together as one big group, but he was quieter than usual. The movie – those _first_ few minutes – had brought up things that eventually they would need to talk about. Not today, no, she wasn't even sure where she landed on that issue. She had a strong suspicion of where Derek would like to be and how he would try to give a non-committal answer, allowing him to try to align his opinion with hers. She had a hunch of where she might land on the issue, but she ignored it. People change all of the time. What people wanted when they were sixteen was different then when they were thirty. A year and a half ago, she never would have wanted a life where she was separated from everything that she had grown up with, but now she wouldn't trade it for anything.

Daniel had pulled her aside, asking about Derek. He thought that it might have been too much stimuli in such an enclosed and unknown room. Chloe hurriedly agreed, making him swear that he wouldn't mention him knowing about it to Derek.

"Yeah, but have you gone out since we've been here," Chloe asked, trying not to be consumed by memories.

"Just to pick up supplies in town," he shrugged. "It's pretty typical when we have a group home like this. We tend to stick out like green thumbs."

Tori would have corrected his usage – no, _sore_ thumbs, _green_ thumbs are for gardeners – but Chloe remained silent. She knew little things like that embarrassed him, even if he played it off.

"You don't get cabin fever at all?"

"The runs take care of that." He turned out and looked at her, sitting at the table. "Which you don't really have any … is this some sort of hint?"

"Please," Chloe pleaded, "we've been here for _weeks_. I don't even know where we are, what day it is, what month even. I just need to get away for a little bit, you know?"

Nate shifted uncomfortably.

"I can _ask_," he started and Chloe was on her feet, hugging him.

"You have no idea what that means to me," Chloe grinned, heading towards her room.

* * *

><p>Chloe was eyeing her closet. She didn't have much in regards to heavy winter gear. It had snowed again. Perhaps she could pick up a few more supplies when they went into town.<p>

Derek wasn't happy about it. He wasn't going. He had made a few quips, testing her to see if she would rise to his bait. She didn't. She knew what he was doing and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of having an argument over the situation.

She _was_ getting out of this house. If she managed to somehow get out of Nate's grasp, well, worse things could happen. Derek would be able to find her. She wasn't sure exactly how, but Derek would find a way.

"I still don't like it," Derek muttered to himself. "If you _have_ to go," Chloe rolled her eyes, "at least take my jacket."

"Aren't you going to need it?"

"No."

He grew quiet.

"You're training today, right?"

"Yes."

"And you're not going to need your jacket."

"Right."

Chloe turned and looked at him.

"It's a _werewolf _lesson, isn't it?"

"First one," he rubbed his face. He was nervous.

"If you want me to wait until after you've Changed or maybe we can leave after you're done with your training."

"That wouldn't work. Malcolm is observing it. You know how he is."

Chloe unfortunately knew all too well how he was. Derek had requested Chloe to stay with him once when Malcolm was visiting. He had not approved and let Derek know in no uncertain terms that relying on her was a weakness and he would not tolerate it.

"I hope he doesn't stay long," she mouthed. Malcolm had abnormally excellent hearing, even for a werewolf. Something about him unsettled her but she could never put her finger on what.

* * *

><p>She really needed a winter jacket. She stuffed her hands into the borrowed jacket's pockets and hunched her shoulders. It did the job well enough, it was simply too big. The truck's heater wasn't hot enough for her liking. It seemed as if it was barely working at all.<p>

Nate apologized again for the heater. They had picked it up cheap and never thought about the heater issue. Running out of body heat was simply something that they hadn't thought about; _they_ had very rarely had that issue.

"Anything you wanted to do in town besides shop?"

"I'd have to know what was _in_ town first," Chloe said. She could see her breath in the cab. The sooner they were inside _somewhere_ the better.

"There's a small diner not too much further. We can stop by, get you warmed up some and see what they know."

* * *

><p>She was used to stares. Anytime they had a new family move to Badger Lake, people would try not to be overt with their double take when they saw her with Derek. She knew they looked odd together. She was used to it. Nate, on the other hand, wasn't used to people looking at him <em>with<em> someone, in particular a girl.

She sipped on her coffee, relishing in its warmth. The diner was popular and it seemed when she was finally warming back up, someone would open the door and she would have to start over.

The waitress had suggested a few shops they could try, but warned that most would be closed due to the snowy weather. She had brought over a local paper for them to flip through.

Chloe gave Nate the sports section and she looked at the rest. They were in Elkin, West Virginia. She didn't know where that was _in_ West Virginia, but at least she now had a name. She scanned the paper, reading about how the town was prepared for the snowy weather and how it compared to years previous.

She opened it and scanned the headlines. When she looked at the national news' page, her heart stopped. She was looking at a picture of herself, a picture of Derek, and a picture of her Dad. The headline read:

**REWARD NOW $1.5 MILLION FOR YOUNG WOMAN**

She looked up to see if Nate noticed her reaction. He was engrossed in the sports' section still. She returned back to the article. She was shocked. The pictures were several years old, cropped from one of the pictures she had given her dad when he was visiting somewhat regularly.

"You ready to go? Hello?"

Chloe looked up, trying not to appear too jarred.

"I asked around – everything in town is closed up. We'll have to take you shopping once all of this weather blows out. So are you ready?"

"Yeah," Chloe replied, folding up the paper and stuffing it inside an interior jacket of the pocket. Nate watched her curiously.

"I was working on one of the puzzles," she admitted.

"You like puzzles? Why didn't you mention that earlier? We have a whole stack of them back at the house. I'll show you."

Chloe nodded, relieved that Nate appeared to have bought the story. She would have to show the article to Derek later tonight.

* * *

><p>"Do you know if Derek will be back soon," Chloe asked at dinner. They had returned from the diner shortly before lunch and Derek and Carter had already left for their training. She had spent the day trying not to obsess about the article. She was unsuccessful.<p>

Nate had brought out the puzzles. They had spent some of the afternoon trying to piece together the border of a puzzle.

"I imagine they won't be back for a few days. Derek didn't tell you that?"

Chloe looked down at her plate.

"He and Carter," Theo began again, "well, they need some time together out there. Malcolm is with them, he'll make sure it doesn't get too out of hand."

Chloe looked at him in disbelief. "And why would Malcolm do that? Isn't he a big supporter of fight to the death matches?"

Theo surveyed her, his eyes lingering on her eyes.

"Malcolm knows what he is doing. If you want Derek to have a chance of making it to his age, you'll leave it alone."

* * *

><p>She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to yell out, not caring who or what heard her. She was past frustrated.<p>

The Cains wouldn't go to bed until a few hours later. She was cooped up in her room, feigning a headache to get away.

She looked at the article again. She must have already read it a hundred times. She always went to the picture of her dad first. It was another cropped snapshot. He just looked so sad, it hurt. Of course he would be sad – she was gone, Mom was gone, and who knows what Aunt Lauren had told him this time.

She felt guilty, incredibly guilty for doing this a _second_ time. Should she have ignored Aunt Lauren's orders and told him the truth? Didn't he deserve to know what was going on? She didn't like the fact that she had broken her promise to him. She _was_ going to get better and they were going to try to return to their normal lives. She was, until that wasn't an option anymore. She knew running away a second time destroyed whatever trust they had built back up, possibly even irreversibly destroying any chance of a good, or _any,_ relationship between them. She didn't know how she could possibly ever win back his trust. They could have a relationship – assuming she managed to get out of this impossible situation in one piece – but it would be a vastly different one.

She read the article again. It was vague on the details, saying that she had disappeared from a mental facility that offered treatment for teenagers and young adults. She had disappeared, probably taken against her will, by another fellow patient, Derek Brown, who had violent tendencies and should not be approached. The article suggested that they may go to New York where they both grew up, but stated that the facility was in Canada, indicating that they may not have the proper paperwork to cross the border legally.

She wished that Derek was here. She could use someone to talk to. He'd argue that her dad was perfectly right in having another search for her, but he was only making things more complicated for them. It didn't matter, she assumed that the only reason it was featured in the national news was because she was a young white woman with a large reward on her head. It would go around the media for a few cycles until another case like it popped up or some famous pop or movie star made a blunder. They would drop the story as quick as they picked it up.

She went back to the photos. The ones of her and Derek were a few years old; it looked like it was from one of their camping trips. She had given Dad pictures of her life there, trying to keep them connected in some way.

She had to tell him the truth. All of this lying wasn't working. It hadn't been working for some time. What would his reaction be? Horror? Disgust? Disbelief? Would he try to ship her off to another mental treatment facility, one that had heavy security? Whatever it was, he had to know. She shouldn't have kept this – her _life_ – away from him for so long. It had seemed innocent enough. The supernatural world was so paranoid about their group accidentally exposing them to the greater world that it seemed easiest to have a stock answer for everything. But Dad wasn't the greater world; he was a part of _her_ world. Or he could be, at least, if she let him in.

Did he know about Mom's brother Ben? Aunt Lauren had told her about him and how he passed. Aunt Lauren wasn't sure exactly what story Mom had told Dad, she assumed it was a car wreck or something equally mundane, something that wouldn't spark suspicion.

It had been anything but. Aunt Lauren had tried to be vague about the details, but each retelling she included something new. Ben was her mom's twin. He died shortly after starting college. As siblings, they all had been close. Mom and Ben had a special relationship due to being twins and Aunt Lauren said that she had a close relationship too. Ben had been outgoing, fun, popular, a fun person to be around. It all changed though, once he went off to college. He had come back to visit for their high school homecoming. Aunt Lauren was elated – she had missed her siblings. The Ben that returned was different. He was paranoid, he was withdrawn at times, and he always seemed to be looking over his shoulder.

Aunt Lauren said that during Mom's last conversation with him he had talked about a demon and how there was a debt that had to be repaid. Mom had thought he was suffering a mental break, they all thought that. They hoped that with therapy, medication and possibly a break from school, he would get better. He would go back to the way that he was before.

He didn't. Shortly after that last weekend, he died.

The help that could have been was too late. Mom had somehow found the Edison Group a few weeks after he passed. If she had put him in contact with him _before_, would he still be here? Would _she_ be here? Would Mom have still gone along with the experiments if they had a previous history with the Edison Group?

Her head pounded with all of the unanswered questions. Her heart was heavy with sadness and guilt. She hadn't wanted it to be this way. She had thought that she would have been back with Dad years ago. Or maybe somehow they would still have regular visits, somewhere.

She looked at the rest of the paper. No wonder her story had made the national news again. It was all in the timing. Dad simply wanted his daughter home for Christmas, which was only two weeks away.

* * *

><p>Christmas Eve had arrived. Chloe's mood was glum. Celebrating was the last thing she wanted to do. They were late, several <em>days<em> late. Theo didn't seem concerned about it. He said they probably just had weather delays due to the ever increasing snow. He reasoned that it would take as long as it would take.

Nate had tried reassuring her in every possible way he seemingly knew. He had offered countless puzzles, a few books he found in a closet, he had even started offering her beer. She said no to the last. She needed to keep her wits about her.

She was looking for a singular particular puzzle piece to complete the border of their latest puzzle. This one depicted a cottage in the woods. She had been looking for this piece for over ten minutes now. One thousand piece puzzles were a clever torture device.

She and Nate rarely talked while they labored over the pieces. The silence would sometimes be comfortable but it would slip to being uncomfortable when Theo checked in on them. She wondered why he did it. Did he not trust Nate or her? Or did he not trust them together?

"Do you all celebrate holidays," she asked, keeping her search for the elusive piece.

"We celebrate birthdays, Changing days –"

"Changing days?"

"It's the day that someone completes their first successful Change. It's kind of like a birthday, in a way."

"But you all don't celebrate national holidays?"

"Well, we do in a way. We don't go full out like the humans do, but we'll have big get togethers with family and a lot of food. Meet up with some other cousins and see if anyone has any new babies they want Theo to take in."

Chloe paused her searching and looked at Nate.

"Is anyone coming over tomorrow?"

Nate gave her a blank look.

"Tomorrow is Christmas. I wasn't sure if you all celebrated it or not. Or if there were going to be more … people showing up."

Nate leaned back in his chair, surveying the pieces. He suddenly grabbed one and found that it fit the section he was working on.

"Normally, yeah. The rest of the family is still doing the big thing, but we're just still sitting tight until Malcolm gives us the go ahead."

"Go ahead for what?"

"Shit, forget I said that. But no – we're not expecting anyone tomorrow. Granddaddy said we'll have more food than usual, but it won't be the same stuff we usually have. You celebrate Christmas?"

"Well, yeah," Chloe admitted. She had never been much for holidays, not since Mom died. The holiday specials, the fretting over presents, the constant reminder of family everywhere scratched a deep ache in her; the entire season seemed to be out to remind her of the importance of family and how she had so little of it left.

"So what did you do," Nate asked.

"Well, before Mom died, we went all out. We had a tree, lights and decorations on the outside of the house, I'd come home to find Christmas music playing in the living room. We'd make Christmas cookies, I would help her wrap up presents for Dad, we hung up stockings," she trailed off. This would be her fourteenth Christmas without Mom. She had spent more Christmases without Mom than with.

She continued, "After that, Dad and I did a lot of the same stuff but it wasn't as much. The tree and stockings would go up later and later, we didn't have outside lights anymore since we moved from the house to different apartments, just … it was all scaled down. Mom loved the holidays, especially Christmas."

"It sounds nice."

"It was," Chloe whispered. She blinked back tears. She had been trying so hard not to think of those brief glimpses of a memory she had of Mom at Christmas. She was six when Mom died in the car accident. She didn't remember the first Christmas afterwards. It must have been too traumatic for her to remember.

Blinking furiously and trying to change the topic, Chloe changed courses.

"Your family gatherings – I, I guess I don't know how to ask. Are there women around? Mothers? Sisters?"

"No."

"So if there aren't any mothers around -"

"You go ahead and wrap up. Granddaddy is calling," Nate abruptly stood and left.

* * *

><p>Chloe pulled out her notes. She hadn't done more than glance through them to see that they were all accounted for since they had been taken by the Cains.<p>

Surely the same principle applied to her current situation. She was still lost as to what ending she was writing towards. She knew that her chances of getting out unharmed were relatively low. She had been working hard at gaining Nate's trust. She hadn't expected for him to shift from potential ally to some sort of friend.

She blamed the looks. He reminded her of Derek so much. She had mistaken him for Derek back in New York. There were some advantages of talking to him. She learned more about werewolves, some in grittier detail than she imagined Derek would have shared, but more importantly, she learned about the Cains.

She had found out a small snippet about the family tree. She didn't know if Derek knew he had a dead older half-brother. She assumed that he didn't. Nate had only brought it up one time and seemed quite alarmed that he had let that tidbit out. He didn't know much about Zack, Derek's biological father. He had drifted in and out of their homestead, preferring to keep on the road with his buddies. Theo thought that Derek might have another growth spurt coming up. Zach was seven foot tall; he had a second growth spurt in his early twenties that sent him from being tall to towering. He almost always came back for the big feasts. Nate remembered that he was a massive blond giant that easily out ate everyone. He never interacted with the younger generation much, not even Arnold, his first son.

She scanned over her notes.

She never asked him about the hunts. She wanted to, she desperately wanted too. Derek had mentioned that while they weren't man-eaters, they still hunted humans. They had their own system. They would find someone who 'deserved it', a criminal of some sorts that slipped through the system. Or did they wait that long? Or was it after only a few crimes that a person could fit their definition?

She was regretting liking Nate, for ignoring that vital piece of family history. Could she fit on that list? She was a runaway. She had fake ids. She and Derek had been living in abandoned places for months that had to be considered squatting or at least loitering.

She picked up her pen and began to write down everything that Nate had told her. Once Derek came back, she would show him all that she knew.

* * *

><p>She awoke to the smell of bacon and hearing excited greetings hollered downstairs.<p>

It was Christmas. It would be her first Christmas without family for the first time in her life. She had fallen asleep writing. She gathered the scattered sheets from the bed – and the floor? How did they end up there? – and put them in the nightstand. She would have to read over them later. She couldn't remember exactly when she fell asleep last night.

Today was going to be a long day. She had never faced a major holiday alone. Dad always made sure they spent Christmas together. Aunt Lauren would come over in the afternoon and she'd tried to ignore the strained relationship she and her dad had. She didn't know why they couldn't get over whatever it was. She thought that with Mom gone, they would have been closer. Besides Chloe, what other family did they have? There were a few distant cousins and a few great-aunts. That was it.

Didn't Nate say that they weren't expecting anyone else? Or was this some sort of surprise that he wasn't aware of?

She dressed and stared at herself in front of the mirror. She no longer had bags underneath her eyes from only sleeping a few hours every few days. She hadn't felt the tugging of a spirit in a while. It was startling how she almost missed it. She had become used to her new 'sense' and felt oddly naked without it.

This was her first Christmas without Derek in six years. They'd never spent it apart since meeting. It was her first Christmas without Simon, Tori, Kit in six years too. She couldn't remember a Christmas that Aunt Lauren wasn't in some memory. She was alone.

She snickered, remembering how she and Derek had spent their first Christmas Eve night together. He had needed to Change and he wasn't at the point where he could accomplish it without her there. She had bundled up in the warmest jacket and they had trudged out to the woods behind Kit's house. She wasn't sure why they bothered. It wasn't as though they had any immediate neighbors that would be peering through their mini-blinds.

His Changes had been becoming steadily faster. They didn't sound any less painful but he had seemed to be at the point where he no longer became sick.

After he Changed back and they were making their way through the snow, he confessed that it was because he was stressed about the next day. Despite knowing what she had told him, Simon had been telling him that holidays were _different_ and that she would be expecting some sort of gift. She had rolled her eyes and asked if he remembered what they had agreed to several months ago. He did recall. They had agreed to not exchange gifts to celebrate anniversaries because while sure, gifts were nice, but they weren't worth the stress that Derek put on himself. There were also practical restrictions since they were in a town that was slowly building up and didn't even have a proper store.

No, their gift was something they experienced everyday – knowing the other would always be there.

Her heart ached with sadness as she relived the walk back to the house. The hand holding that caused butterflies, her breaking out into a run to see if she could possibly beat him if she had a head start (she didn't), their hasty goodnight kiss that Aunt Lauren interrupted. Even now, even after all of the unfulfilled promises the Nasts made part of her ached to go back to that time. Things were so much simpler then. They were so much easier. Everything about their relationship was easier … _before_.

She shook her head. No, she wasn't going down that road today. Not today. She would try her best and just treat it like any other day. She caught the corner of the paper from the diner.

She missed Dad. She wasn't aware if there was a time that she didn't miss him. She never thought it would take this long. She never thought that by trying to keep him safe that she would lose contact with him for years.

A knock at the door made her jump.

"Breakfast is ready, Chloe. If you're not down in five minutes, you'll have to fend for yourself," Nate called. It was his regular morning greeting. Chloe had discovered it wasn't a credible threat. She had tested it a few times and each time she found that they had set a plate aside for her.

She took in a deep breath, steeling herself for whatever today would bring.

* * *

><p>Cold eyes found hers as she made her way downstairs. Malcolm was back, but where was Derek?<p>

She scanned the room, looking everywhere but where Malcolm was. If she didn't have to deal with him today, the better it would be.

She walked to the kitchen, hoping to see a certain face in the kitchen. Perhaps he was famished from their trip and decided to eat before seeing her. He most likely wouldn't want to interrupt their reunion by excusing himself to check his stomach five minutes into it.

She peered into the kitchen. She received greetings from Theo and Nate, but Derek wasn't there. A pair of arms grabbed her behind and pulled her close. She tried to pull away to look at him but the grip tightened.

"Let me go, Derek," she laughed, lightly swatting his arm.

"Might want to try again," he whispered.

It wasn't Derek's voice, it was Carter's. She pulled at his arms, struggling feebly with his iron grip.

"This isn't any sort of welcome fit for family," he said, slowly releasing her. "I hope you'll have better manners when you meet everyone else."

Chloe looked over to Nate, hoping for some sort of support. He was busy cooking at the stove.

"You're not family," Chloe said as she tried to walk by him. He grabbed her again and stared her down. He stared into her eyes for a minute, gave a brief nod, and released her.

She pushed by him and went back into the living room. She scanned the room, she was alone. Did something happen to Derek when he was out with Malcolm and Carter? Did they let something happen to him? Did they _do_ something to him?

She cast a quick look behind her; no one had followed her out. She wanted to yell out for him but that would attract unwanted attention. Did he go upstairs to see her first?

She looked back at the kitchen. The voices were loud and laughing, they seemed happy to have Carter back. Of course they would. He was their family. She was an outsider that they had kidnapped, in order to indoctrinate or something that sort, along with another long lost relative of theirs. She was collateral, she knew that, but it still stung slightly that no one had said anything. She was surprised that she was even upset by the lack of reaction from them.

She didn't need to feel this. She couldn't succumb to Stockholm syndrome. She needed to remain objective with her feelings with the Cains. She needed to seem as though she was forming real relationships with them. She could not let herself forget that she was only acting as they wanted in order to gain information about what was being planned. She could not let herself forget that she was kidnapped. She could not let herself forget that they were man killers.

She went up the stairs and went to her room. She paused in front of the door, trying to hear if someone was inside. She had acquired that habit shortly after Derek left. She had found Theo in her room, saying that Derek thought he left something behind. She had searched the room afterwards. Nothing seemed out of place or missing. Was it as he said? Was he really just looking for something Derek had forgotten to pack? Manners seemed to be slightly different with werewolves, so it was entirely possible. Still, she listened at the door.

She didn't hear anything and let herself in.

Derek's bag was sitting on the bed. She furrowed her brow and closed the door behind her. Arms wrapped around her again, exactly like the kitchen only minutes before.

She stomped on the foot behind her and struggled to get her shoulders free.

"Ow, Chloe, what are you doing?"

She escaped his grasp and turned around to see Derek.

Chloe sputtered for words. She glared at him. She was torn, she was elated that he was back, appearing unharmed, but she was annoyed with the manner he had presented himself.

"Grabbing people from behind isn't exactly the greatest idea, you know. Especially when they've been held against their will for weeks and the exact same thing only happened a few minutes ago downstairs."

Derek sighed.

"I was only trying to surprise you."

"Well, you did. Although it would have been better if I hadn't already run into Malcolm and if Carter didn't pull this exact trick in the kitchen."

That earned Derek's complete attention.

"He did what?"

"What you just did! He came up and grabbed me from behind. I thought it was you, but it wasn't."

She sat down on the bed and buried her face in her hands. She felt the bed sag as Derek sat beside her.

"I'll talk to him about it. It won't happen again."

She looked at him. He appeared to be in good health. He wasn't maimed, scarred, or disfigured like he was in her worries.

"So," she said after surveying him and finding no harm, "tell me about your trip."

"Well," Derek began, "if I don't have to go camping in the next year, it'll be too soon. We went out to a cabin in the woods that didn't have any sort of power. It was just four walls and a roof over our heads. Malcolm stayed for a day and then left."

"He left you out there with Carter?"

"That was the whole point of the trip. According to him, if we didn't work out our differences, nothing that he had planned would matter. If we couldn't get along, he was going to send you and me back to the Nasts with a giant bow on our heads.

"The first few days, we didn't talk much. There wasn't much point, every time we did talk led to an argument. Things didn't improve until we had to Change. That seemed to at least put us on speaking terms.

"It wasn't the best of speaking terms," he paused, gauging her reaction. Without her asking, he followed, "Yes, we fought … not like we did at training. This was pretty nasty stuff. After a few days of doing that, it was time to Change again. Things started to slowly improve after that Change. We had to cooperate in order to find food, wood, and bring in snow to melt for water.

"Malcolm came and checked in on us after a week. He stayed about ten minutes and left without saying a word. I suspect he was shocked that we were both alive. We didn't see him again until he picked us up last night and drove us here."

"I thought you had training to do?"

"Yes. The training was apparently how to get along with Carter. On the drive up to the cabin, Malcolm kept going on and on about how we needed to get past whatever differences we had and suck it up because he didn't have time for it."

"I don't think there is a plan. If the grand scheme is to get our files, it isn't going to be anywhere near here. Nast headquarters are on the other side of the country," Chloe said.

Derek pulled her close to him.

"I was told a few things, but I can't say just yet. Today will change things, I promise. If they don't follow through on that, we'll find a way to escape. You've still been working on Nate and Theo?"

"I've been focusing mostly on Nate. Theo always keeps his guard up when I'm around."

"Right, I expect Theo would expect you to try to be cooperative." He was quiet for a moment. "Merry Christmas."

* * *

><p>Chloe grinned back at him. "Merry Christmas."<p>

Chloe stuck close to Derek the rest of the day. She didn't want to let him out of her sight. It seemed surreal that he was back with her. She tried to ignore what she thought was Nate sulking some in the background. She felt slightly guilty at the position he was in. Derek came back and suddenly she wasn't paying him hardly any attention. She tried to rectify it by suggesting they take another attempt at their latest puzzle but he brushed her off.

She had been successful in avoiding any further interaction with Malcolm. She was relieved that the day was almost over and she could soon excuse herself up to her room without having anyone checking in on her.

Derek had surprised her today. He seemed relaxed around the Cains. He and Carter had managed to work through their animosity and even had a decent rapport. It was bizarre. He must have been suffering from Stockholm syndrome. It was the only explanation that explained it all. She had caught herself falling into it and she had modern luxuries. If she had been in the situation he was in, she probably wouldn't have been aware that she was succumbing to it. She would just have to point it out to him later, once they were alone.

She was starting to doze off on the sofa, curled up next to Derek, the fireplace going and hearing voices laughing. It was quite a lovely setting, minus the being held against their will part.

A large cardboard box landed in front of her, jarring her out of her dozing state. Malcolm stood next to it. Of course he would do something like that.

"Merry Christmas, Chloe," he grinned and sat in the chair next to the sofa. Chloe eyed the box as though it was a ticking time bomb.

Malcolm quickly lost his patience.

"You want to know what is going on? Look at that box, what does it say?"

She leaned forward and picked up the box. It was heavier than it looked. On the outside it had "CONFIDENTIAL" stamped in faded red lettering.

She opened up the top and coughed at the musty smell emanating from inside.

The page on top read:

_This contains the files acquired from the St. Clouds in regards to the transfer of Project Genesis II and Project Phoenix (please see references for location of Phoenix records). Included are details about the Genesis Project II origination, objectives, medical histories of those involved and the prognosis of the subjects as of the St. Clouds last monitoring. This inventory contains 'S' – Saunders and Souza._

She looked over at Malcolm, her eyes wide. Her hand turned white from gripping the paper.

"Merry Christmas Chloe," Malcolm grinned.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review! A reminder: the first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice (an option is also me surprising you!)<strong>


	6. Unexpected Consequences

**A/N:** This has some references to two of my stories, _Like Magic_ and _Do No Harm_. If you haven't read them, I highly encourage it! There are a few clues in this chapter that you'll pick up on a lot quicker if you've read them versus not reading them. The choice is up to you! As usual - **first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice! **Drabbles for Chapter 5 can be found in Chapter 5 of _Tales of Another Life_.

**Forums:** I have created a forum to discuss the **new Chloe novella!** You can find it under 'forums' and either go to the second page (it's the only one on it) or select 'general' under type and it will be the last one on the page. It is called **Atoning - Chloe novella**. I hope to see you all there!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _The Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the O__therworld_.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Unexpected Consequences<strong>

He had done it.

The smug, arrogant, unsettling son of a bitch had done it.

Chloe nudged Derek, trying to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. He was staring at the box as hard as she was.

All of their questions would now be answered. They would finally know what had been done to them and could move on with their lives. They could look to the future instead of constantly looking over their shoulder for missing pieces of their past.

She wasn't sure when the others left, but she and Derek sat there in a stupor. She never believed that this would actually happen. Now that it was at her fingertips, she didn't know what to do.

"Should we," she started softly. She looked at Derek. He was lost in thought.

Everything that they had wanted was at their fingertips and they were frozen in place. Everything that they had begged to know for years were only a few page flips away and they sat there.

"We should," he said gruffly but made no move to grab it.

Chloe stood up and looked at the box.

"Why don't you just grab it and we'll look at it in the morning, together. Today has been a long day. That's why we haven't," she trailed off, gesturing to the files.

Derek gave her a nod, picked up the box and they went upstairs.

Neither of them slept. Chloe tossed and turned. Derek would go over to the box and then retreat from it.

"Tori would murder us right now," Chloe said, staring up to the ceiling.

Derek chuckled.

"She would. Everything is _right there_ and we're not doing anything about it."

"I'll read yours if you'll read mine. That way, it isn't so … I don't know, jarring."

Chloe turned on the bedside lamp and sat up. She extended her hand.

* * *

><p>Breakfast was quieter than its usual affair. The soundtrack of clinking forks, glasses, and spoons carried on as usual but there was little to no conversation.<p>

They should have been more specific. They should have told Malcolm that he needed to grab all of the files from the project, not just hers and Derek's. Admittedly, they already knew almost all there was to know about Simon and Tori's abilities. Simon had been a 'success' in the sense that his powers came into their own much more gradually than normal. He was still a weaker than normal sorcerer, which could have either happened naturally or through the experiment. There wasn't a way to know which one it was. Tori had her own blend of witch-sorcerer magic but she was constantly receiving instructions from people who were dealing with Sean's half-sister Savannah, who also was a witch-sorcerer hybrid, although Chloe was under the impression that she had occurred by natural means. What about the Phoenix subjects? What about Maya and Daniel? Maya never would have let it slip her mind to ask for the others' files. She wouldn't have even read any of the files unless she knew everyone had theirs.

Her head ached. She needed to find a pause button for her thoughts. She had stayed up to who knows what hour trying to read the files. It was all gibberish to her. They were all written in the style of medical journals and she was hopelessly lost after the abstract section.

She was exhausted, tired, and now she felt guilty over something that she didn't have control over. Would have it even be possible for all of those files to be extracted from the Nasts without being noticed? Probably not.

She wrapped up her breakfast and prepared a plate for Derek. He was still upstairs poring over the files. She hoped that he had slept at some point during the night but she doubted it.

She pushed open the door and peered in. He sat on the bed surrounded by a nest of carefully arranged papers.

"Eat," she put the plate next to him and sat on the floor.

"Let me finish this page," he muttered. Chloe rolled her eyes. Of course he would need to finish the page he was on. He couldn't just put a mental bookmark at the paragraph he was on, no; he needed to finish the page. A page full of medical jargon that she was fairly sure he even he was having problems following.

After he finished the page he joined her on the floor.

"If I never have to read about sperm counts after this, it will be too soon."

"I can't say I've ever had a burning desire to read about them."

"Oh, it's just _fascinating_. Apparently Zack had slow and irregular sperm. They couldn't do any conclusive tests but they suspected he had some sort of condition that let him become as big as he was and also produced less than stellar sperm."

"Did it say how big he was?"

"Roughly seven feet, no one really wanted to get close enough for an exact measurement."

"Yikes."

"Apparently they had to do quite a few manipulations to make sure that it wasn't passed down to me. One of the journals mentioned because of the difficulty, they went and sought out another werewolf that wouldn't be as labor intensive."

"The other boys all had the same father?"

"Make sense, doesn't it? It's not like they wanted more of them to know about the project than they needed too. I guess it also explains why they grouped together like they did."

Chloe watched him. He had only spoken about his time at the laboratory only a handful of times since they escaped. He had talked about it some after escaping the Cains the first time but it was years before he brought it up again. He had talked a little about how the other boys acted, constantly travelling in their own pack. She suspected that he had only told her the tip of the iceberg. She wasn't sure if he would ever tell her everything. She wasn't sure how much he let himself actively remember or how much he had managed to block out.

"Have you had a chance to look at my file?"

Chloe had awoken to see Derek reading his own file. She had fallen asleep sometime in the middle of the night. Her own had been moved over to the side.

He let his head fall back against the side of the bed.

"That is a complicated question. Yes, I've looked at it. I've read parts of it, but things simply aren't adding up. First, they numbered all of their pages and there are some sections that are missing. Or it looks like it was edited somehow as it'll start going in one direction and then it will abruptly pick up on another stream of thought in the same paragraph."

Chloe sighed.

"No, it's not because I'm _tired_. Here," he twisted around and grabbed a handful of papers. He scanned them quickly before settling on one.

"Now look, at this section right here. It talks about your family history on your mom's side. It talks about your uncle and how he was the only active carrier in his generation. It then traces back pretty far back, going into who they could verify was a necromancer and who they only had rumors about. It's pretty tedious stuff. And look here, the section on your dad's history? There isn't any. It just lists his name and that is it. No family tree or anything."

"I don't see how that's surprising. It was on my mom's side that the supernatural stuff came from. Dad's normal so they wouldn't go to that levels of detail. They probably just gave him a physical and that was it."

"I thought so too, but here," he pointed at the bottom paragraph, "it talks about the goals of your experiment and it doesn't mention the possibility of a baby – it specifically talks about a daughter."

"Maybe Mom just wanted a girl. People have preferences, it isn't against the law."

"Yes, but when this was going on, they _shouldn't_ have been able to screen for that. It's only the past decade where they've been able to reliably separate the sperm by the sex chromosome."

He sighed, exasperated. "Something is going on. I don't know what, but that seems a little odd that they went into such detail on your mom's history but the most they put in about your dad was his name."

"What about your file? Did they do the same thing?"

"There's a pretty lengthy history about Zack and his fights. It talks a little bit about the Cain reputation. The most about the other side is a discussion on how they acquired some eggs that college age women donated in exchange for cash. It said that they were all screened and had their family histories checked out but none of them had any supernatural blood anywhere in the last five generations. It also said it was the 19th egg, egg 'S', hence Souza."

"Isn't that kind of odd they didn't keep track of where each egg came from?"

"They probably did in the beginning but I imagine they were close to giving up on Zack's prospects. If they were writing this as they went, perhaps they didn't want to write up the history for each one and then have all of their work wasted."

"Are you okay?"

Derek shrugged. "It wasn't like I knew anything different. I thought that maybe they would have a name, but," he shrugged again. "I didn't lose anything I thought I had, so I'm fine."

She rubbed his arm.

"But, all of the history regarding my file really casts a suspicious light onto yours," he added.

"I guess it seems a little odd, but they probably had different people writing the files up. It would make sense – someone from each team or department writing things up instead of one person trying to write everything. Besides, it doesn't even seem too out of place thinking about it. Why would they go deep into Dad's history when they didn't even keep track of what egg belonged to whom?"

He put his arm around her, bringing her closer. She rested her head against his upper arm.

"Maybe," he muttered.

* * *

><p>One advantage of dealing with Theo directly was that he rarely asked probing questions. The most he would ask would be if they were hungry, if they were feeling well, if he could get anything to make their stay easier. The fact that he did it without a trace of guilt annoyed her. Further, the fact that he would do whatever he could to honor any request annoyed her further. He also did his best to answer her questions, providing that it wasn't about their current situation.<p>

She knew that he was trying to win them over to 'their' side, whatever that was. She suspected that it probably wasn't a good thing. Werewolves didn't go out and recruit new members. They had their own family and that was it. Sure, Derek was related to them by blood, but he wasn't raised by them. He was raised in the human world, he knew human rules, and he knew how to function in normal human society. He didn't view criminals that escaped the justice system as some sort of possible tantalizing bait for one of their big hunts.

Kit had tried to make the case for why Derek shouldn't be bothered by them hunting criminals. He reasoned that the hunt instinct was a very strong motivational drive in werewolves and that it needed to be properly channeled. If the Cains had found a way that channeled that drive and took a criminal off the streets, was it really that bad of a thing?

Derek had been shocked that Kit could make that case with a straight face. Kit had spent countless years as a public defender, defending the very same people that the Cains would relish hunting.

"When are we going to have a _hunt_," Carter asked. Theo ignored him and continued to work on a page in his crossword puzzle book.

Unsatisfied by Theo's lack of response, Carter went to the other side of the room, muttering something about how he had held up his end of the deal. Derek eyed him as he left.

"Theo, there was something that I was wondering about, and I'm sure Derek was too, but I had a few questions about Zack."

Theo looked up at her.

"You see, there's a little bit of history about him in Derek's files. There's some information that he had a reputation about being a fighter and that he was pretty big."

"Pretty big is a bit of an understatement."

"They estimated he was around seven feet tall. That was an exaggeration, right?"

"Nope," Theo replied as he penciled in a word. "He was at least seven feet. Big, strapping boy he was. Hell of a fighter. He could take almost anyone on. Hell, he'd come back all cut up and he'd just laugh it off. A lot of times it'd be bar brawls – him versus the entire bar. He never walked away from a fight," he paused and nodded. It seemed to be a point of pride with him. "He was a good boy. He didn't deserve what happened to him."

"I guess I was hoping if you could tell me if Derek had any half-siblings," Chloe asked. She hadn't told Derek about Arnold. She had only found out through Nate and he had made her swear not to tell him. She wasn't sure why she kept her promise to him, but she did. If she could get Theo talking some, it wouldn't be as big of a subject for her to avoid, especially since their room was covered in their files.

Theo paused, closed his book and sighed.

"I knew that was coming," he muttered softly. "Zack only had one other son. His name was Arnold. He died almost ten years ago. Zack might have a few daughters out there, but he never mentioned them. Girls typically aren't brought back. They do better just living their lives as humans, not knowing anything about this life. Here," he shifted and pulled out his wallet. "There is a picture of Zack and then there is a picture of Arnold next to it. Spitting image of him, he was. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and think there was a spook in the house."

Chloe and Derek looked at the two pictures. Derek looked nothing like either of them other than the eyes and size which seemed to be general Cain family traits.

"Them other boys," Theo said, "they weren't Zack's?"

Chloe was surprised that he knew about the other boys. Malcolm must have looked over the files before handing them over and told Theo about the other werewolf subjects. Somehow she wasn't surprised.

"No, they were from another," Derek said, joining the conversation.

"Makes sense," Theo muttered.

"What makes sense?"

"I got to confess, years ago when we first found out about you, we were told there were other werewolves subjects but they were no longer around. I figured it was something to do with that genetic manipulation they did. Werewolf genes can be finicky even when it's through a natural occurrence. If the other boys' weren't Zack's, it'd explain why you were exiled from them.

"See, it's a bit like having a game of tug-o-war. You were on one side, the other boys on the other. You didn't have someone in charge to tell you all to get along. What happened is only natural, like paired up with like to try to drive out the different one.

"They might have been a bit more aggressive than typical pups. I imagine that's what probably happened. They were too aggressive and spooked the scientists. If you were half as smart as I think you are, you would have tried to be as submissive as possible. The scientists would have thought that as something they could work with.

"So, they did whatever they did with the others and kept the one they thought they could control. Makes sense. Every time a new pup gets introduced around here, there is typically one or two that needs a stern talking to or a knock to the head to lay off the aggression. So if they didn't do that, they were setting you all up for failure. Hell, I'm surprised that they never managed to do any lasting damage to you."

Chloe and Derek sat there, taking it in.

"You think you could describe what they looked like? It's a small world out there; I might be able to make a pretty good guess who their daddy was."

Derek abruptly left the room, leaving Chloe on the sofa.

"He doesn't talk about his time there," Chloe said as she followed him.

* * *

><p>He was already engrossed in her file by the time she came up to the room. She knew better than to say anything to him.<p>

She sat there in silence. He would have to make the first move. Experience had taught her to let him approach her when this subject approached. He had tried describing it to her once. He explained that when those years are brought up, it feels as though he's transported back to that time. He was a scared little boy trying to find a way to make it through the day in one piece. He felt powerless, helpless. He didn't like feeling like that and had lashed out at her when she tried the first time.

It wasn't a fun experience for either of them.

So she waited. It seemed as though each time it happened, not that _it_ happened often, it took less time for him to recuperate. Sometimes he would tell her something new but he generally started a new conversation.

"According to your family tree, you had several powerful necromancers a few generations back."

She scooted over next to him and looked at the family tree.

"It looks like it was mostly in the women. Ben is the only recorded man having any sort of power."

"You think that is a fluke?"

"I first thought so, but then I remembered that first section, where it talked about a _daughter_."

"So, you're saying…"

"I don't know. Maybe Ben was the fluke. If it seemed to be expressed in the women, maybe they gauged that they would have a better likelihood for their experiment if your mom had a daughter."

She eyed the arrangement of papers around him. Should she read his file? Even if it took longer, perhaps she needed to just get over it. It couldn't be good for him to read what all they had done to him.

"Well, if you discover there is another zombie master general, grab my attention." She grabbed Derek's file and opened up back up to the first page. She could start where Derek had left off or where she had quit the first time, but she was resolved. She was going to finish this. She needed too, for the little boy's sake.

* * *

><p>She and Derek had escaped to the kitchen. They needed a break, their brains needed a break, but they mostly needed <em>out<em> of that room they had been holed up in.

They hadn't expected to find Nate in there as well. He was brewing a pot of coffee.

Chloe watched him. Nate had been acting different since Derek had returned. Despite wishing it, she felt bad about inadvertently ignoring him. He must understand though. It wasn't as though he wasn't aware of her relationship with Derek. It was the only reason why she was still alive, she reasoned. Derek wouldn't be very cooperative with the people who killed his girlfriend, family or not.

"More are coming," Nate said.

"More? More what," Derek asked.

"Family," Nate replied flatly. He looked nervous. "I'm not supposed to tell you, but Keith is coming. That's Carter's daddy. He," he paused, searching for words. "He's _mean_. Carter can be pretty nasty if you get him pissed off enough, but Keith is a different type all together. I'd stick close to Derek or me, Chloe."

She was watching him as he divulged more information he wasn't supposed to.

"Does he hurt humans?"

He didn't verbally answer, but the look on his face was enough.

"Also another warning, don't stare at his ear. He has some other scars but they're generally covered by clothes. But, don't let him catch you watching his ear."

"His ear," Derek asked.

Nate looked towards the door and continued, lowering his voice.

"Yeah. Shortly after he starting Changing regularly, he got the idea that he was going to steal Clayton Danvers' girl, Elena Michaels. It didn't turn out too well. Clayton is the guy, well, you know the pictures. But by then enough time had passed and I guess Keith thought he had gone soft with age. He hadn't."

The coffeemaker beeped.

This was just what she needed. She already was looking over her should because of Malcolm. Now she had another name to add to the list.

She took a sip from Derek's mug and made a face.

"That stuff is awful."

"We have creamer, sugar, booze," Nate suggested.

"That might have been enough for me," Chloe replied.

Nate and Derek turned around, watching the doorway. Theo strode in the kitchen. He seemed to have a small smile, pleased seeing them together in a room.

"Where's Carter?"

"Dunno," Nate shrugged.

"You'll need to keep a better eye on him," Theo warned.

"I know."

Theo eyed their improbable little group. "It's good to see that you're not still buried in all of that junk. If you find anything out and have questions, you know where I'm at."

Derek watched as he left the room, presumably to search for Carter.

"You can ask me stuff too," Nate suggested. "I don't know as much as Granddaddy but I have a better idea of what it's like to be young."

Derek nodded, and then said, "Chloe? Do you think you can go back upstairs? I have a few questions I'd like to ask Nate."

She was surprised by this development. She left the kitchen and was half way up the stairs when the hairs on her neck stood up. She hurried her steps, trying to escape. If she could get to the room, she would be safe.

"Chloe," a voice called. She ignored it.

"Chloe," he called again, louder and closer.

"_Chloe_," he said again. Chloe stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down. It was only Carter. Her heart rate started to slow from its frantic pace.

He went half way up the stairs.

"You okay?"

"You just scared me."

"Right. Well," he looked around. "I just wanted to warn you. Someone is coming. Soon, I think. Just stick close to us, okay?"

"Are you talking about Keith?"

It was now Carter's turn to be surprised.

"Nate said something about it in the kitchen."

"Right, right. Well, it's no joke. He's a nasty piece of work and probably has more … things to brag about. You haven't been seeing anything, right? The runes are holding up? And that necklace thing of yours?"

Chloe nodded.

"Good. Right, well, Derek is in the kitchen?"

"He's talking to Nate about werewolf stuff. He had a few questions for him."

Carter snorted. "Right, well, I better go and make sure that Derek is getting the _right_ answers."

* * *

><p>Chloe watched as he headed to the kitchen. She hurried to her room. She didn't need any other visitors.<p>

She noticed that things were changing. Derek increased his time spent with the Cains and she spent more time holed up in their room. She had tried to argue with him that she didn't mind hearing about that aspect of his life but he remained firm in his stance. He had simply explained that he wanted to keep the two aspects of his life separate until everything was figured out. She tried not to be hurt by his remarks since it was _his_ life, but it stung.

She found herself drifting off in memories when her brain couldn't handle any more jargon in their files. She would remember finding him that very first time, how he had asked her to stay. She remembered the bus ride where they spent the night in the woods. She remembered the wonder she experienced the first time he had fully Changed.

The memory of that always brought a smile to her face. Even now she could still hear how offended his snort was when she asked if smelled like dinner. It was a fair question, all things considering, but she had meant it as a joke.

She tried to restrict her trips down memory lane to very specific times, times where she wasn't being harassed by a spirit or seeing a residual. She tried but she often found herself remembering seeing her mom's ghostly figure in the woods. If she had only known at the time it was Mom and not Aunt Lauren, maybe she might have been able to make contact then. Maybe she would have heard the full warning she had tried to give her. Maybe she would have had _time_.

Her instructors had told her that the likelihood of that happening in the first place – not to mention that it happened_ twice –_ was abysmal. There were rules that spirits and necromancers had to obey. Family members were not allowed to contact each other from the other side.

She thought it was a stupid rule then and thought it was a stupid rule now. Didn't they know how much it _hurt_? Knowing that Mom was continually out of reach just because of some rule someone made up some eons ago?

She sighed. She needed to get back to focusing on things that she could actually do something about. Or at least give her a headache trying. She was picking up on the terms, it was just difficult in some instances since they didn't exactly have a medical dictionary lying around and she wasn't sure if the Cains had ever _seen_ a computer. Well, they probably had but didn't use it to look up words in the dictionary.

They had been here almost two months now. She was growing restless. They needed to make some sort of move. They needed to get _out_. The longer they stayed, the harder it would be. Once the snow melted, they may be moved to somewhere else and this whole process would start over again.

She scanned Derek's file. She was up to his third birthday. The files all before that were slightly more detailed records that seemed normal record keeping. They detailed when he reached developmental milestones, his height and weight, when his teeth came in, how he responded to food, all seemingly normal events that any family would keep track of.

New details were starting to emerge in the files. There had been notes in the previous year about how social the boys were. At age two, they theorized that they were first becoming aware of the others but still preferred to play by themselves. However, now that another year had passed, they were starting to group together for short play sessions. The three boys that shared the same father – Subjects A, B, and C – frequently played with each other and didn't seem to have any hesitation in starting play with one of their brothers. When it came to Derek, also known as Subject D, there was no initiation on the other boys' behalf. Derek started every short session and they only lasted a few minutes at a time.

_It seems as though even without a biologically linked adult interacting with them, A, B, and C seem to know that they share a closer bond than they do with D. Compared with their interactions with adults, they interact more with D. This could be attributed to wanting to be with their kind. Once the adult practitioner or caregiver is gone, if D had started a play session while the adult was still there, the play session will abruptly end. We will continue to monitor to see if this is because D is different biologically from them or because he is still significantly larger than the other boys. We have increased the food allowed for the other boys but they still do not seem to be growing at the same rate. Please see the shared family history for A, B, and C for future reference._

_Other events that will be closely monitored and observed are the reactions to the adults as the boys continue to grow and develop. As noted in the previous years, they were very amenable as infants but seem to be growing into their own personalities. How much this can be attributed to the stage of development, the often referred to as "Terrible Twos" or "Troublesome Toddlers", or their werewolf side cannot be determined._

_Subject D remains the most amenable of the group. It is speculated that he is the most amenable because he is often on his own and seems to greatly enjoy the adult interaction. The other boys likewise enjoy it, but they do not express it as vividly nor do they stop their play when an adult enters the room D will often at times seek out adult interaction instead of seeking it from his peers._

_In the future we will have to make note their response to different adults and have varying levels of different odors on the adults to see what provokes a reaction._

She put her bookmark in and closed the file. Reading through it was a heartbreaking experience of its own. She couldn't imagine what it was like to have that as her early childhood. She clung to the few memories of Mom as tightly as she could.

Could the researchers' theories explain why Derek was spending more time with the Cains? Was it something that was genetic, hardwired into him? Was he trying to make up for his early years? Was she now the ostracized 'other'? Could he leave? He was able to the first time, but they only had him a few hours. She wasn't taken with him that time. Could they have figured that out, that if she was brought along, they could convince him, and thus her, to stay permanently?

Could she even _ask_ him to do such a thing? If she was given a chance to reunite with Mom and Derek didn't want her to do it, could she refuse?

She didn't have an answer.

* * *

><p>She knew tonight was New Year's Eve. They were remote but they could still hear fireworks being shot off a few miles away.<p>

Carter had found an old television in the attic and managed to find an antenna that worked. They were able to at least watch fireworks, if they couldn't shoot them off themselves. That had surprised Chloe. She was sure that they would have been all about shooting fireworks. Daniel had named himself as Firework Commander the first year at Badger Lake. He had a very specific order on that was going off and how much spacing was going to be between each burst. It sounded like it was going to be a great show, until Tori and Simon used a small fireball spell to light off all the fireworks at once. Next year, Daniel spaced the fireworks out and kept a closer eye on them. Luckily his eyebrows had grown in by then too.

If they hadn't been snowed in, _again_, she suspected that Carter and Nate would be out at the local bar. Instead they were cooped up at home. Malcolm had disappeared again. She didn't ask and no one told her. The less she could spend thinking about him, the better.

She wanted to ask when they were moving. Surely they weren't planning on holding them here forever.

"How has the reading been going," Theo asked her.

"It's coming along. They made a lot of notes about Derek, when he was younger, still more of the same – just recording pretty normal toddler behavior." She wasn't sure if she should mention the lack of playing with the other boys or not. She wanted to be on the safe side and hoped he wouldn't ask about it.

"They made notes about playing? How he got along with the other boys?"

"Yeah, um, well, he _did_ get along," she looked to Derek to finish. It felt awkward talking about his file when he was _right there_ and had read up to where she was.

"It's like how you thought it was," Derek started, picking up the conversation. "The other boys knew something was different about me. So, they rarely played with me. The notes say that I received most of my attention from the adults."

Theo shook his head. "I still can't believe Zack didn't know about you," he muttered quietly. "But," his voice rose in volume back to normal, "that just shows that what we've been telling is the truth. You belong with us Derek. It's in your blood, says as much as that in those papers."

Chloe shifted uneasily. As far as she knew, there hadn't been any sort of permanent female company with the Cains ever. Was this for all werewolves? Surely there were some out there that had more of a normal family structure, a husband and wife, children that may be werewolves depending on their sex. It didn't seem as an absurd idea but still something that happened extremely rarely. She didn't know many people would want to stay with a werewolf if they weren't already a part of the supernatural community.

"And what about Chloe's?" He gave her a grandfatherly grin. She wanted to enjoy it but she also wanted to recoil from it.

Derek sighed.

"Figured about as much," Theo replied. "Now Malcolm had a hunch that you were going to run into problems like that, so he's come up with a solution that should shed some light on those problems. In theory," he glanced down at his watch, "it should be arriving soon. Might've been held up because of the snow, but it should be here soon."

Theo's gaze shifted to Chloe and he looked at her intensely. "I want you to remember what we've told you, you need to stay close to us four. It's important that you do that, you understand?"

Chloe nodded. She wanted to ask why, but his tone didn't leave room for questions. It was a tone of an Alpha, of someone who did not take questions unless he felt like it. He did not leave any room for questions. He had very rarely used that tone when talking to her; this might have been only the second or third time, so she agreed to it.

"Good, I think I hear something coming up the road. Nate, I'd like you to see if it's what we've been expecting. Carter, you remember everything that we've talked about? And you Derek?"

They both nodded in agreement.

She felt the cold hands of panic gripping her. Derek _had_ assimilated into them. He was taking orders without question. They were going to be _stuck_ here. They were going to meet their ends by being hunted by the Pack. Once word got out that the Cains had a genetically altered member, the Pack would break down their door to eliminate the threat as soon as possible.

She watched as Nate bundled up and went out the front door. He was gone for a minute before he knocked twice.

Carter, Derek, and Theo stood up. Derek stood in front of her and Carter was off to her side. Were they trying to block her in?

The door opened and she heard Malcolm laughing. It was an eerie sound that she never wanted to hear again.

She wanted to lean back to see what was going on but she couldn't. Theo was blocking her view of the door.

She heard another voice – Malcolm wasn't alone.

"You make it back okay, Keith," Theo asked.

"Well enough, I suppose," Keith replied. Chloe had heard a few stories about Carter's dad, none of them were appealing.

"Where do you want me," he asked and Theo pointed over at the chair Carter had previously occupied. Keith walked over and she got a good look at him. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and … her stomach dropped, a _missing ear_, which he highlighted with a short haircut. It was asking to be looked at, stared at.

"And you must be Chloe," he grinned after depositing a very large bag in the chair. She found herself wanting to fold in on herself, make herself as small as possible, small enough that he couldn't see her. "No need for the show, guys, I'm on my best manners," he grinned.

Malcolm had come up behind her and gripped her shoulders with her hands. She tried to spin around to see him but he kept her in place on the sofa.

"What do you think it is," he whispered in her ear.

"I…files, I think. Maybe some additional reports that weren't with the main ones."

Keith laughed. Malcolm softly chuckled.

"Wrong," Keith happily replied. "Guess again."

"Files from other experiments, maybe the first Genesis project," she quickly spat out.

"Wrong but good guess," Keith replied. His jaunty attitude was polar opposite of the room. Everyone, minus Malcolm, was tense. Carter kept looking everywhere but at Keith.

"Should she get a third guess," Keith asked Malcolm.

He squeezed her shoulders and she hunched her back, trying to dislodge his hands. Derek was watching but made no move to stop him. He certainly didn't look happy about it, but he didn't do anything. She wanted to yell at him, ask what he was on that he would let some stranger that she didn't like paw at her like this.

"I know, I bet Carter has a hunch on what it is," Keith said as he strode over to his son. "Now pretty boy, what do _you_ think it is?"

"You brought back a researcher," he said quietly. Chloe's eyes widened and Keith grinned.

"See, Carter's smart just like you are Derek, but in the _important_ things. Now, do you want to guess who we brought back?"

"It could be anyone," Derek replied. "It could be a nurse, some lab technician. We don't have any names to guess from."

Keith walked back over to the bag and started untying it.

"I believe you have _a_ name," Malcolm whispered against Chloe's neck. Her face paled at the realization. Keith finished untying the end of the bag and revealed the battered body of Aunt Lauren.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <strong>Just a a reminder - **first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice (surprise can be a choice) **and be sure to check out the **Atonin**g **- Chloe novella forum to talk about the new novella!** Hope to hear from you all soon!


	7. Glimpses of Reality

**A/N:** If you haven't, read _Like Magic_, _Do No Harm, _and _Guiding Light_! There are a lot of references and hints that point back to those stories. It isn't a requirement but I think you'll enjoy the chapter more if you have those stories as a reference.

As always - **first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice** (and being surprised is a choice!)! You can find drabbles for PM-6 in _Tales of Another Life_, chapter 6.

Another note - is everyone reading the **new Chloe novella Atoning**? We have a forum set up to discuss it! You can find it in the DP forum list under 'Atoning - Chloe novella' or use the link in my profile. It is set post-_Rising_ but if you check out the "Getting Started" thread, it'll have an overview of what happened in that book as well as summaries of the new characters that we most likely are going to run into. Hope to see you all there!

**Disclaimer:** Disclaimer: I don't own the _Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the Otherworld_ series. I don't own _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Glimpses of Reality<p>

"No," she tried to scream but the word was stuck in her throat. She pushed back Derek and went to Lauren. She eyed her over, surveying the abuse she had gone through.

She heard voices but her brain couldn't process who they were from or what they were saying. Her brain was in a fog. Aunt Lauren was here but she was definitely _not_ okay. She tenderly stroked her face, trying to avoid the bruising. She grimaced. This was all her fault.

"Derek, _please_," she pleaded. When Derek didn't move, she repeated her request. She wasn't aware that she was crying until she felt the tears trailing down her cheeks.

She wanted to wake up; she wanted this all to be some sort of awful nightmare. While she and Aunt Lauren had been on less than stellar terms, she never would have wanted _this _to happen to her.

"She needs a doctor," she said. She looked at her exposed arms, the sleeves tattered and torn, exposing bruises varying from greens to deep purples.

After what felt like a century, Derek started moving towards her. He gingerly picked her up and Lauren let out a pain filled groan.

She followed him up the stairs. Derek was taking her to their room. She would deal with Keith and Malcolm later, she told herself. She needed to harness the anger she was feeling and wait for the right moment. Even psychotic werewolves make mistakes, this proved it. Her shock was wearing off and she wanted to deal with them right now but another groan shifted her attention. Aunt Lauren needed her now.

Derek gently laid her out on the bed.

"You don't think they…"

"I don't think so. She would be much worse off if they did," Derek replied.

Chloe nodded but still inspected all of the exposed skin for bite marks. She did not find any.

Derek came (when did he leave?) with a bowl full of water and a wash cloth. She dabbed at her aunt's face, wiping away some of the dried blood. She winced when she had to apply pressure. Sometimes her aunt responded but she mostly stayed asleep.

"I'll take care of you," Chloe told her. "I'll take care of you. I won't let them hurt you. Not anymore."

She looked up at Derek. "Can you go downstairs, please? I'd like to know what possessed them to think this," she gestured at the bruises, "was ever an acceptable idea. A phone call would have worked, anything but this."

Derek didn't respond, or she didn't hear him, but went out the room and shut it quietly.

Chloe talked to her aunt in sporadic bursts. First telling her that she wouldn't let her hurt anymore, that she was sorry she was caught up in this mess, that she hoped that one day she would be able to forgive her.

* * *

><p>Groaning.<p>

Chloe sat up. She had fallen asleep sitting next to the bed. Aunt Lauren stirred, moving sluggishly.

"Shh, don't move," Chloe said. "It's me, it's Chloe."

Lauren turned her head to face her and squinted, focusing her bloodshot eyes.

"Chloe? It's really you?"

"Yes, but are you hurt? Do you need anything? I, I'm so sorry about all of this," she rambled.

"It's so good to see you," Lauren replied. She looked around the room, trying to place it. "Where are we, Chloe?"

She grabbed her aunt's hand, glad for contact.

"It's a long story, I'm afraid."

"I don't think I'm going to be moving anytime soon."

"Well. It started back at Badger Lake. Derek, Simon, Tori, and I all had a plan. If something seemed 'off', we would all go, no questions asked. We even had bags packed and everything. The night that we took off, Derek found a body in the woods. A human body – _Sean's body_."

"What? No, Sean is alive," she interrupted.

"I never saw it, but Derek was convinced it was him."

Lauren snorted in derision.

"After that, he tried talking to Simon and Tori since they were still back on summer break. They didn't believe him and stayed behind. He got me and we've were on the run for a few months, never staying long in one place. We finally came up with a plan. We were going to take the news of Sean's death and the fact that he smelled werewolves by the gravesite to the Pack. That was the plan. We were also going to tell them everything, about the experiments and Badger Lake. We flew to Syracuse and somehow they knew we were coming. Two members confronted Derek and gave him his options. Either he would get out of town or they would kill him the next day. We hoped that since I would be talking to them, they would listen before attacking."

"You were going to talk to those monsters without him," she gasped.

"They don't harm other supernaturals. They've been involved in the council and the supernatural world a few years now and haven't hurt anyone but werewolves. But, before we could meet up and talk to them, we were abducted … by Derek's biological family. One of the werewolves that took you here is one of them."

What little non-bruised skin in Lauren's face paled.

"You mean … we're here with the _Cains_?"

"How do you know their name?"

Lauren swallowed to clear her throat. Chloe didn't think Lauren would remember something of that detail from their time in Pennsylvania. She wasn't even sure if Kit had even told her the last name.

"I know Derek's file. After what happened to Anna, I knew something like this was bound to happen. This is so much worse, so much worse," she gasped, her eyes clouding with tears.

"Anna?"

She nodded her head.

"After Anna, I read everything I could about the werewolf project. I knew that if I could convince Davidoff it was a mistake, he'd terminate it. I even threatened to go to Banks but he died before I could. I wished I hadn't waited. If I had done that, we wouldn't be here now," she cried softly.

"But … who was Anna?"

"Anna," she paused to clear her throat, "was a nurse on the werewolf project. She was such a sweet, kind girl. Despite our warnings, she really bonded with those boys. We told her not too. Grace told her that they were _little beasts_. She would bring them little snacks or toys to play with when she started her shift. She … really cared for those monsters. One night, she had already clocked out and was headed out the door when she decided she wanted to say goodnight to them.

"Once the boys realized that she didn't have anything for them, three of them … _attacked_ her. One of them didn't, Derek didn't, but he didn't do anything to stop them either. He banged on the door and yelled to get our attention. Stupid, stupid George had stepped out for a smoke break and left the cameras unmonitored.

"It was too late. It was a Friday night, almost everyone had already gone home," she said quietly, her sobs turning into quiet tears. "They … I was wrapping up in my office when they paged me, said it was urgent. I _saw_ what those boys did to her. She was such a beautiful young girl. Her whole life was ahead of her. And … there were nothing we could do to give it back. I had to make the call to end her suffering. I had to watch the light go out of her eyes, knowing _who_ was responsible for this.

"I should have told you about this long ago," she shook her head. "We wouldn't be in this situation if I had told you the whole truth. If you knew what those _monsters_ were capable of."

"Derek couldn't have been more than four or five. What did you expect him to do? He tried to get help!"

"He was so much _bigger_ than those other boys."

"He was practically a baby," Chloe yelled. "I've been reading his file and nothing I've read so far even indicated that he stood a chance of stopping those boys."

"You have … his file? Oh no, Chloe, oh what have you done?"

"We're just trying to figure out what was done to us," she said softly. "We need to know what we can expect our lives to be. That's why they brought you here. There are things that don't make sense in the reports. Derek thinks that mine was tampered with. He keeps going on and on about the family history section, how it was so detailed with Mom and there was nothing about Dad."

Lauren didn't reply. She closed her eyes and leaned against the pillow.

"Can we pause this conversation? My head is splitting and I need to shower," she said softly.

"Right, of course," Chloe hurriedly replied. "I…I didn't mean to for us to fight. Not like this."

Lauren squeezed her hand. "I know."

Chloe watched as her aunt slowly sat herself up and amble towards the bathroom. She shouldn't have told her all of this, not as soon as she woke up. It was all too much, even for someone who had been immersed as long as Lauren had, who had been _there_ since the beginning.

It had felt … natural, though. Before all of this, she could tell her almost anything. It was easy to talk to her about some things.

Chloe stopped for a moment before she realized the real reason why she had talked so much.

She wanted someone else to make the call. She was tired of being responsible. She was weary of having to make all of the decisions. She didn't want to live with the guilt of making the wrong choice.

* * *

><p>Chloe watched as Lauren skimmed Derek's file.<p>

"I don't think I want to know how you got a hold of these," Lauren mumbled, flipping a page.

"I don't even know the exact details," Chloe sighed. "I don't think I _want_ to know either considering …" she trailed off. She felt guilty about the shape Lauren was in. She didn't seem to have any serious injuries, but she had quite a lot of bruising.

"And I'm also surprised that you've made it this far in reading this," she added, flipping to the next page. "I never would have suspected that you would have made it past all of the jargon."

Chloe shrugged. She watched as Lauren flipped the page _again_.

"Are you really reading them that fast?"

Lauren looked up. "Of course not," she explained. "To get the best idea of what was written all you need to look at are the abstract, the discussion of the methods and then the conclusion. You can skip most of the fluff in the middle unless it is something that you think is important."

"…oh," she muttered weakly.

"There is no way anyone in any sort of medical field could read _everything_ in _every article_ and still have time to practice medicine. This is just a shortcut to only cover the important parts."

"But what if they hide them in the fluff?"

"I honestly doubt they thought anyone would ever see this file. I thought Kit took it when he took Derek," Lauren shrugged, going to another page.

"Well, it isn't Derek's file that we're having trouble with, like I said. It's mine. I don't know if skipping around like that would really help."

Lauren hadn't touched her file since she had felt well enough to look at them. She had only gone through Derek's. At this rate, she would be finished with it in less than an hour. Every time Chloe brought up her file either Lauren ignored her or changed the subject.

She hadn't asked how or where she was when she was captured. Lauren hadn't offered it up. She wanted to but didn't want to seem as though she was prying. At least now Lauren knew how it felt to be taken somewhere against her will.

"Are they treating you okay," Lauren asked, flipping yet _another_ page.

"Yeah, I suppose," Chloe answered. "Nate seems to be the one that will talk the most. Derek and Carter started off on bad terms but … they seem to be on better terms now. Theo seems alright, a bit odd, but okay."

"Those weren't the ones that brought me here, right?"

"No, I'm assuming that they didn't get outside help, so it would be Keith and Malcolm."

"Malcolm," Lauren repeated softly. "That name sounds familiar for some reason. I haven't seen that name pop up in the file, have you?"

"No," Chloe answered.

"Probably just had a patient with that name at some point, I suppose," Lauren rambled.

They sat in silence while Lauren finished going through the file. She finished earlier than Chloe expected. Would she now look at her file? Was there some reason she was avoiding it? Was it that she felt guilty, responsible for what happened to her? There had been notes that it was her aunt that managed to convince the group to let her mom into the project. What had been the hold up?

"Chloe," Lauren began heavily, "do you know anything about the project, other than what I've told you and you've read?"

"I…I talked to Royce Banks and Dr. Banks. Years ago, back at Andrew's house. Royce kept _showing_ me things, what he did to Austin. He kept on talking about some things but they never made sense. He said that we were the second group and that he was a part of the original. Dr. Banks came too, only he said the power would drive me mad, I'd end up like Royce. He … He said that he should have ended the experiments or something of that sort before he killed himself."

"Dr. Banks had left the group before I joined up. He was still consulted on everything; he just didn't participate in the day to day like he had before. Royce … well, since you've met him, he was a nasty piece of work. The group learned a lot from that group.

"I joined a bit after college. I …," she trailed off. "I managed to use my contacts to receive an interview with the Edison Group."

"Contacts?"

"I," she took in a deep breath. "I had some supernatural contacts. I'll tell you about all of that later, I'm not up for it and it isn't related to any of this. But, I had my interview and I received the position. Your mom wanted a baby _so much_ and it just wasn't happening. Regular fertility treatments weren't an option because your father … had just started up the business not too long before and it was still gaining ground.

"After a while, I managed to get your mom in and then they had you," Lauren explained.

"I know that but –"

"Chloe," Lauren interrupted. "I need to lie down for a while. We can talk more about this once I wake up, okay?"

"Right, you need your rest," Chloe said and turned off the light. She left the room and closed the door quietly. She nearly tripped over Derek, who had been sitting next to the door.

"How long have you been sitting here," Chloe asked quietly.

Derek shrugged. He stood up and motioned her to follow him. They walked to the bathroom and he closed the door behind her.

"She was partially right, about who did all of that," he started. "It was mostly Keith, but Malcolm was there. I don't know how involved Malcolm was, but his presence tends to exacerbate things like … _that_. I don't think they did anything that couldn't heal but it probably isn't best to try to push them."

"They can't get away with this, Derek," Chloe hissed.

"I agree. Theo said he would handle it, so we have to leave it up to him. She's safe now. They won't hurt her while she's here."

"Then what was all of the warning about avoiding Keith before?"

"You still should."

Derek didn't elaborate past that. If only Liz were here, they would be in a much better position. She would feel _useful_ instead of some damsel that Derek had to keep tabs on.

"Is the kitchen clear," she asked. She couldn't remember the last time she had ate outside the room. Before Lauren arrived, she supposed.

"It should be but I would like to go and check. If you'll just stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

Chloe sighed as Derek went downstairs. This was going to become old before Derek made it back. She wasn't _helpless_. Well, she wasn't as powerful as she could be. Ever since they had come here, the runes had kept everything at bay. Perhaps it was doing its job a little _too_ well. How did the Cains even know about the runes? They changed the topic when she brought it up.

She impatiently waited. She walked over to the staircase and saw Derek coming out of the kitchen. He motioned her to follow him.

* * *

><p>She wasn't sure what she should be doing. Lauren was asleep again. She had pushed herself too hard too soon and was feeling the results. She could stay up in the room, staring at the walls, trying to summon to no avail. Or she could try and be <em>social<em> with the people that had allowed this to happen to her aunt. If Keith was punished for it, he didn't give any indication. She already knew that Theo wouldn't directly confront Malcolm.

So she sat, tucked away in the corner of the sofa, Derek beside her. Nate and Carter were sharing their favorite fighting stories.

"Tell us about your fight," Carter prodded Derek. "We know about it but not the fun parts."

Derek shrugged. "They came after us. I managed to hurt Ramon pretty badly. I had to Change –"

"Change? You don't Change when you're in a fight," Carter interjected.

"It was his first full Change," Chloe mumbled. "Not like he had a lot of choice in the matter."

"Your first time fully Changed and you do that sort of damage? Damn," Nate added.

"Wait, you were there for his Change," Carter interrupted.

Chloe shrugged, "Yeah, and the two false starts before."

"And you didn't run away?"

"He wanted me there, so I stayed. It wasn't that bad."

Carter and Nate shared a bewildered look.

"Anyway, Chloe managed to lure Liam away while I did _that_ and then when I caught up to them … that was that," Derek said, steering the conversation back on track.

"Wait, was he in wolf form," Nate asked.

"No, I guess he couldn't Change. Chloe had stabbed him in the leg a day or so earlier, so maybe that prevented it."

Carter looked at Chloe in a new light.

"Damn," Nate said.

"It's not like I _wanted_ to stab anyone," Chloe said. "It just … Derek needed help, so I did it. It wasn't like I _enjoyed it_ or anything."

"C'mon," Carter started. "It's just us. You can admit that you enjoyed it a little bit. Hell, during fights, if you're not enjoying the blows you're dealing, you're doing something wrong. I remember one time," Carter began to tell them about the time he managed to get a lifetime ban from a bar.

* * *

><p>Chloe missed Derek. She rolled over on her makeshift bed of blankets. Lauren needed the bed and she insisted that Chloe stay with her in the room. Lauren had offered to share but Chloe was worried she might flail in her sleep and inadvertently hurt her aunt.<p>

Lauren had banished Derek from their room for the time being. Derek didn't want to push it while Chloe thought it was unfair. Derek reasoned that she simply wanted privacy and that she couldn't be expected to be comfortable with him, not after what happened.

Even though Derek had no part or knowledge of it, Lauren still held him accountable. It was his _family_ that had done this to her. Abducted her, beaten her, and taken her here to this house in the middle of nowhere.

Chloe hoped that she would one day be able to separate Derek from the rest of his family. Or at least separate Keith out from the rest of them. It was all of Keith's and Malcolm's doing. Theo had apologized profusely to her, saying that it was unacceptable, that he would find a way to make things right.

She didn't know if it was unacceptable because of Lauren's relation to Chloe and her connection to Derek or if it was because of his views on women. She hoped that they he didn't condone this type of behavior but it nagged at her.

She hadn't seen much of Keith or Malcolm since then. They stayed a few days after Lauren was first brought and then disappeared. She didn't want to know when they were coming back, so she didn't ask. It somehow seemed better not to have a looming countdown hovering over her head.

Chloe still hadn't been able to get Lauren to look at her file. Every time she brought it up, either they would get into a fight or Lauren said she needed to rest. It was an endless loop, something she was tired of. She needed _answers_. The answers were there. They simply needed Lauren to fill in the missing pieces.

She had filled in some pieces of Derek's file that they didn't anticipate were missing.

The reason why they didn't have a detailed history on his mother and her family? It was a funding issue. The werewolf experiment was off the books. Davidoff was financing that on his own with his and some investors. The Edison Group had no official role in the experiments other than gathering the data and providing the facility, which Davidoff paid for as well as the staff involved. They had simply not wanted to pay someone to look into every donation and write up the detailed history. They simply performed the basic background check and analysis to verify that there wasn't any recent supernatural history.

Chloe hadn't asked Derek about Anna. She wasn't sure if she was ever going to. Just the version she had in her head was terrifying enough. She couldn't ask Derek to pull that back to the surface just because she wanted to fact check her aunt.

Lauren seemed to know plenty about werewolves. She never asked too many questions about Derek. Chloe had reasoned that it would be easier if Lauren simply asked _him_ but she wouldn't hear of it.

She seemed more than content to stay locked up in their room. Chloe brought her food and clean clothes and Lauren ran to and from the hall bath after sending Chloe to check to see if it and the hall were clear.

Lauren would have to face Derek one day. She couldn't avoid him forever.

* * *

><p>Chloe winced.<p>

Derek's training today was not going well. Malcolm had arrived earlier that morning and told him that he was now going to be practicing with Nate.

As Chloe expected, it was not going very well. Derek was slightly bigger than Nate but Nate had experience. Experience almost always trumps size.

To Derek's credit, it wasn't going as badly as she thought it was. It was nowhere near as bad as his first few fights with Carter.

Carter wasn't happy about being sidelined. Derek had only started beating him consistently in the past week. He didn't offer to keep Chloe company as she sat on the back porch. He had his own training to do, weights and running.

Malcolm and Theo were watching them, talking quietly amongst themselves. Malcolm was pointing at something and Theo was nodding in agreement.

"Chloe," Theo yelled out to her. He waved her over.

"Chloe, can you help us out for a bit?"

"Sure, I guess."

She tried to ignore the painful grunts coming from behind her.

"Boys," Theo yelled, "stop for a second!"

Nate and Derek stopped fighting for a moment, even Carter stopped his run.

"Chloe, I'd like you to get behind Nate. Nate, you know what you're supposed to do."

"I-I don't know about this," Chloe said. She looked at Nate and Derek. Derek was sporting a bloody nose and Nate's right eye was slowly closing.

"We don't have much time left," Malcolm replied. "If you want everything to work, there needs to be an extra push."

"You're not going to get hurt," Theo assured her.

"She better not," Derek angrily replied.

"If she does, it's because you're not paying attention to what is going on. Maybe it'll get that lesson through that thick skull of yours," Malcolm replied coolly.

Chloe put herself several steps behind Nate.

Malcolm sauntered over to Derek. He leaned in close and said something to him, inches away from his ear. When he was done, he smirked and rejoined Theo on the sidelines.

"What are you waiting for? You're going to let him keep her?"

The fight began.

* * *

><p>Derek won.<p>

Malcolm looked very pleased with himself afterwards.

Derek shouldn't have won. Nate had plenty of brawls under his belt. Derek had had two.

Chloe didn't know what to do afterwards. They were both cut up, bloody. She didn't get too close. Derek had yelled at her enough about not touching his blood years ago. Even now when they both knew that wasn't how the lycanthropy pathogen was transmitted, Derek still reasoned it still _could_ because of the experiments.

She wasn't sure who was in worse shape but Derek had managed to get her and defend her from Nate. Malcolm had called the fight, saying that they had done enough for the day.

Derek's nose was a mess; fresh bruises were already starting to show on his arms. She followed him into the house. Carter was helping Nate. Nate was tightly hugging his ribs.

Lauren was at the top of the stairs when they entered the living room. She didn't say a word as Derek walked by her and went into the bathroom.

"Chloe," she whispered, "what happened?"

"Training."

"Chloe, we've got to get you out of here, away from them," she insisted.

"Tell me what is in my file and I'll do my best."

Lauren took in a deep breath. "Follow me."

* * *

><p>Chloe sat on the bed as Lauren went through her file. She noted that she would sometimes stop, flip the pages <em>back<em>, and then resume her place later on.

"Derek was right," she said after an eternity of silence. "Your file has been tampered with. All of my additional notes for Davidoff's special interest in you … gone."

"Davidoff had a special interest in me?"

"Yes, he did," Lauren said slowly. "I … I know what I wrote in my notes, but Marcel also had notes in your file. I don't remember what he specifically wrote, but he … well, he knew more about you than even I did."

"I'm not following you."

Lauren closed the file and put it on the bed. She traced shapes on the outside, starting and stopping sentences.

Finally she said, "We need to talk about your dad."

"What about Dad?"

"Your dad … he was special, is special, more like, since he's still alive. There are a variety of supernatural types that we didn't include in the experiments, vampires, certain half demons, dozens more. One of the types that we didn't specifically include was magicians. They are an off-shoot of sorcerers. Power level wise, they're weak, considerably weaker than any witch. We didn't include them because it would have simply been a waste of resources. Most magicians don't even know they're magicians. I don't believe you dad knows about it. And like sorcerers, it is a hereditary trait, and likewise, they can only have sons."

"But … I'm not a boy."

"I know. The experiment didn't want a magician, they were too weak. Instead they wanted a necromancer. Your Uncle Ben was a necromancer. Your mom and I were latent carriers of the gene, meaning we simply had it in our DNA.

"Through science, we were able to manipulate it and we managed … well, you."

Chloe sat there, stunned. Dad was a supernatural too?

"What do magicians do?"

"They are good at reading people, they're good at convincing people to open up to them, and they're good at manipulating people, your dad …" she trailed off, sighing. "I don't think he manipulated your mother. I believe that was real, for both of them.

"We knew from simulations with other experiments that when two supernatural types were combined, one emerged dominant and the other acted as a supplement to the other. Look at Tori, for example. She is a witch-sorcerer hybrid, but she is far stronger than a witch should be, especially considering other circumstances of the experiment."

"So you all knew that I would be more … powerful, than usual."

"We did," Lauren said sadly. "I … that is another story," she said softly. "We did the best we could to try to prevent that. Your genes just … the experiment didn't take. That is why your mom got you that necklace. You couldn't have been more than four when she tracked it down."

"I was four?"

"You started seeing ghosts earlier than that. We're not sure how much earlier, but you saw them early. Much earlier than you should have, even if you had come into your powers naturally."

Chloe paused. "So, those old memories about the house with the basement…" she trailed off.

"They are real," Lauren said.

"Can … can't we just get another necklace? If this one worked for that long, it just means that it ran out of juice, or something." She looked down at her necklace. It had once been ruby red but it was now a light blue.

Lauren shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, hun."

"Why not," Chloe asked. She wanted to yell out but kept her voice even.

"I don't know. That was the only one that I've ever run across that works. But Chloe, you have to listen to me, you can _never_ tell your father about what he is. _Never_."

She couldn't believe this. She stood and paced the room.

"I know it doesn't sound fair, but you can't. It … everything is already so complicated, Chloe. Bringing your dad into all of this would only make it so, so much worse."

"Why? _How_?"

"We can talk about that later," Lauren said. Chloe sighed, exasperated, and rolled her eyes. "What we need to focus on is your file. If you … _really_ want to get to the bottom of things, we have to figure out where Marcel's notes are."

* * *

><p>She ran into the woods, the cold air burning her lungs. If she had done this several weeks ago, she would have thought she stood a chance of escape. She knew better now; they would let her run off but they would be able to bring her back with no problem.<p>

Chloe needed to clear her head. She needed to get past the area they had set up with runes. She wasn't sure but she suspected that they had even _buried_ some around the house. She needed to get past that barrier. She needed to talk to Liz.

She dodged snow laden tree branches, her legs were on fire, aching from the extra effort of running through the snow.

Derek would be on her trail soon. He was probably still cleaning up from his fight with Nate. He would say that she wasn't thinking straight, that she needed to _think_ about what she was doing. She had done nothing but _think_ since they arrived here and she was sick of it.

She went deeper into the woods, the trees became larger. Before her life changed, she could count on one hand how many times she went into the woods. Now the woods offered her refuge.

She slowed down to a jog and then to a slow walk. She hadn't run in weeks and it showed. She would have to start her own training regime again. She couldn't let her body be the cause of failure when they managed to come up with an escape plan.

"You work out not because it's a New Year's resolution, no, you work out because you have maniacs after you," she muttered to herself. "There is a gym tagline if they ever needed one."

The sky began to darken and she pushed herself further. She reached a clearing and a familiar sensation came over her. It was almost like a small buzzing, connecting her to other realms. Her face broke out into a smile. She felt like _her_ again.

Chloe sat down and mentally went over the steps of summoning. She always did this. Derek stressed that by establishing a set routine before summoning, she would be in a better mental place to control what happened next. She hummed as she paused, grinning.

She began to pull. She needed to see _Liz_.

She closed her eyes and did her best to resist the urge to pull harder. "Liz….Liz…Elizabeth Delaney," she chanted. Surely Liz wouldn't have forgotten about her. Surely Liz knew that she _didn't_ forget about her, that she had been trying to reach her for years.

She felt a '_pop'_ and opened her eyes. She didn't see Liz anywhere. Did she summon a dead animal, _again_? Animals were so much harder to deal with. Their overwhelming panic of not _knowing_ made them unpredictable and hard to release.

She stood up and walked around the edge of the small clearing.

"Hello?" she called. "Please, come to me. I … I didn't mean to summon you. I'll set you free, but you need to come to me first."

A bush on the opposite side stirred and a rabbit emerged. She should be used to seeing animals in different stages of decomposition, but she wasn't. She wasn't sure if she ever would.

"Sorry about that, bunny," she said softly as she released the spirit. It felt wrong to leave the corpse exposed but she didn't have anything to bury it with.

"Maybe I'm still too close," she said to herself. She walked further. She came to a stop and leaned against a tree. She tried summoning Liz again.

She felt the '_pop'_ again and opened her eyes. A woman was in front of her, her back facing towards Chloe. She didn't have on a nightgown or giraffe socks. Chloe's heart sunk at the realization that this wasn't Liz. She had summoned wrong _again_. She was out of practice and she would have to do something about the abundance of runes surrounding her.

The woman looked around, "Hello?"

"Um, hi," Chloe said weakly. "I'm sorry; I was trying to reach a friend."

The woman turned around and Chloe's jaw dropped. It _was _Liz.

"Chloe," Liz yelled. "Holy crap, do you _know_ how long it's been?"

"I do," she grinned. "But, look at you! Where is Minnie and your socks?"

"Neat, right? Turns out I just have to think about an outfit, and _voila_, instant change." Liz had swapped out her previous attire for jeans, a shirt and a hoodie. It brought back images of how she was back when she was alive. Well, images of her alive. Liz still didn't look a day over sixteen. She looked exactly as the last time Chloe saw her. Would she be stuck forever at sixteen?

"That sounds pretty convenient."

Liz smiled but then she stopped, and turned her head. Chloe followed her line of sight but didn't see or hear anything.

"Chloe, have you …" Liz trailed off, still looking off. "Chloe, you need go back to wherever you were. Wherever you've been hiding, go back."

"Liz, I just summoned you –"

"Chloe, _run_, seriously, _run_" she yelled.

Chloe ran, trying her best to remember the way back towards the house. She felt the tugging sensation again, only it was multiplied by a magnitude she couldn't fathom. It felt eerily like it did right before she … right before _the incident_.

"No, no, no," Chloe said as she ran, pushing branches aside, dumping snow on her. She just had to make it a little past the clearing with the rabbit corpse. At least she had a visual marker of when she would be nearing the rune safety border.

She passed the clearing with the rabbit. She wanted to slow down. Her lungs ached and her legs burned. Liz reappeared next to her, urging her on.

Liz stopped a few feet from the invisible border.

"I'll … I'll make contact with you, once it's safe," Liz said. She kept glancing over her shoulder. "But Chloe, promise me, _promise me_ that you won't summon _anything_ until you hear from me, okay?"

Chloe nodded, out of breath.

Liz looked around. "Right, go on, cross the border. I … if you see the rest of the gang, tell them 'Hi' for me. It … it was good seeing you, Chloe. I … I'll see you soon."

Chloe stepped over the border and Liz disappeared. The tugging and buzzing sensation stopped. She sat down, her back against the tree. It was night now. She knew that her chances of making it back to the house tonight were small on her own. Derek would find her. If he didn't, Nate or Carter would, as long as it was anyone but Keith or Malcolm.

She rested her head in her hands and a sob escaped. It opened the floodgates and she cried out everything that she had inside of her. She was _tired_ of this. She was _sick_ of being some sort of freak that couldn't do anything without it spiraling out of control. She had given up the idea of being 'normal' a long time ago. She wanted to be a normal necromancer, not this.

She sat there, staring into the woods, staring into nothingness.

When Derek found her, she expected him to yell at her, scold her, and berate her for taking off without telling him. She knew he wanted too. He started and stopped himself several times once he spotted her.

He eventually sat down beside her.

"You're bleeding."

She looked down at her arm. Her sleeve was torn, exposing a cut she didn't know she had.

"Oh."

"Chloe …" he trailed off. "If you want to leave, we can. I can go back and get Lauren and we can leave all of this behind us."

"We can't," Chloe gasped. "I summoned Liz. It … she says hi. But," again she stared into the darkness. "It didn't go well. She made me promise I won't go outside the runes again, not until she contacts me."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I don't know. I summoned her and we started talking and then … she saw or heard something I guess and _freaked_ out and sent me running back here."

"Was it only Liz?"

"I accidentally summoned a rabbit earlier."

"They can be vicious monsters. I've seen _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_."

Chloe gave him a weak smile.

"We can talk about this tomorrow. You need to get back and rest."

Chloe nodded her brain a fog. She stood and started to follow him. She cast a long glance over her shoulder, back at where Liz once stood. She could still see her there – the memory of her, that is. No more Minnie, no more giraffes. Liz had changed. It made sense. They all had changed.

She no longer felt the pulling but it echoed in her mind.

* * *

><p>AN: Just a note again - first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice! Also please check out Kelley's Atoning Chloe novella and the forum we have going here on FFN!

And yes, we discussed vampires briefly here and no, I haven't forgotten Kat. Kelley said a while back that Kat wasn't in Genesis II, she was part of Project Valhalla (it was in the 'ask the author' portion of Kelley's official forums). Since Lauren only worked with Genesis 2, there wouldn't be any possible way that she knew about Kat or even any clues that she knew about that project as a whole either.

Let me know what you think!


	8. Weighing the Facts

A/N: Reviewers of the last chapter, you can find your drabbles in chapter 7 of _Tales_. As always - **first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice!** You can pick a set of characters, a setting, an idea, or let me surprise you! It will be posted with the next chapter of Promises.

Another reminder about our forum that we have in the DP section where we're talking about **Kelley's new online Chloe novella, Atoning. **The third chapter is now up! You can find the forum in the DP sectioncalled 'Atoning - Chloe novella' or use the link in my profile. There is a link to the novella in the 'Getting Started' thread.

Disclaimer: I don't own the _Darkest Powers_, _Darkness Rising_, or _Women of the Otherworld_ series.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Weighing the Facts<p>

She drank her tea. It seemed a little over kill but she wasn't taking any more chances. Not again. Not after _feeling_ that. The buzzing had stopped once they grew closer to the house but she still felt phantoms of it.

Derek had managed to get her back to the house and ignored the Cains' questions as he took her upstairs. Instead of going to the room she shared with Lauren, he took her into the bathroom and locked the door. She didn't know how he managed to brew the tea as quickly as he did, but she didn't question him.

He sat on the edge of the tub, arms folded, with a very displeased look on his face.

"I'll talk about it later," Chloe said quietly.

"No, we're going to talk about it _now_."

Her eyes met his, they were hard and enraged.

"Seriously, I'm not –"

"Chloe," Derek interrupted. "Just stop. Let me tell you something – you ran out there, _alone_. You ran out there without telling me where you were going. Were you running away, ditching me and your aunt behind?"

"No, I would –"

"You've been warned about how you're not to go anywhere alone, not with you-know-who still hanging around. You did it anyway. You didn't even bother trying to _find_ me. You just took off. That is _not_ okay, Chloe."

Chloe was quiet. She wanted to defend herself, but it would only lead to more arguing. She was tired of arguing.

"Now you're going to tell me exactly what the hell you were doing out in the woods, at night, by yourself."

"I needed to get away."

Derek flexed his hands, working out some nervous energy.

"From what?"

"Everything, all of this," she started. "I talked to Lauren about my file. You were right. It isn't complete. There are things missing, like you thought. Davidoff's notes on me are missing. It turns out … turns out that you were right thinking the section on Dad was off. It was. Turns out," she took in a breath, "he's a supernatural too. A weak one, but enough to give me a power boost without any manipulation as part of the experiment."

"What kind?"

"He's a magician. Lauren said that he doesn't know. I don't have any of his powers or anything, if you consider reading people or manipulating people a power, or anything like that. I just got a power boost, which I guess might explain why the experiment didn't take. If they were expecting me to be within the realms of normal, and then I wasn't, then the entire thing was going to fail."

Derek sat there quietly.

"Did she say where Davidoff's notes were?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, but … if Malcolm was able to get the files from the Nasts…"

"…then he probably would be able to get the originals from the St. Clouds since they didn't turn everything over."

"Exactly, and …" Chloe trailed off, she was _exhausted_. "I don't want to owe anyone here anymore. We've already stayed too long. If we ask this, we're never going to get away."

She put her empty cup on the counter and sighed.

"I just want us to go somewhere else, Derek. I don't like being here, it's becoming too comfortable. If we keep this up, you'll effectively join up with the Cains and I'll be left tagging along. We need to do this on our own."

Derek pulled her over on his lap, resting his head on her shoulder.

"We'll figure something out."

"No, we won't," Chloe insisted. "We have to get Davidoff's notes. If we don't, I still won't have the complete story on what … what is wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you."

Chloe sighed. She wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week.

"There's more," she said. "I summoned Liz. And … it didn't go well."

"She was mad at you? Where the hell has she been?"

"No, nothing like that," she explained. "It was more along the lines of …" She let it sit there. She didn't need to explain it to Derek. He was there when it had happened the first time. She had hoped it had been a fluke. Tonight provided otherwise.

"Liz made me promise that I'm not to summon anything until she reaches out to me."

Derek sighed and squeezed Chloe for a hug.

"We'll figure something out. We always do."

* * *

><p>After seeing how Derek responded to Chloe being involved with the training, Malcolm had Chloe involved almost every day.<p>

Today she was behind not only Nate but Carter too. It was the first time Derek had taken on two werewolves. His encounter with Liam and Ramon, Derek found out, didn't "count" as they were merely trying to take him alive and had underestimated him.

Theo had taken her aside, telling her that if she had any issues, he could talk to Malcolm and develop another strategy. She had asked him why they were still training him in human form. Theo had explained that training as the most difficult in the human form. The brain, as a human, responds differently to threats. If they could train and develop the right responses in human form, they would become instinct in the werewolf form. There may still need to be additional training for specific werewolf traits, such as tracking or flushing out prey, but fighting would come naturally. The brain would simply translate everything from the human form to the wolf. Fighting came easier in the wolf form.

She had thought about speaking up, but if she did, she would probably be sent back the house or told to simply deal with it. At least with this, she could take her mind off everything else without any furtive glances.

Today's scenario was similar to all of the ones before it: Derek had ten minutes to get to Chloe. The rules were similar as well, no permanent injuries, no breaking of bones, no hitting in the face or groin, and no losing consciousness. If Derek broke those rules, he lost. If he lost, he wasn't allowed to see Chloe until the next training session. Derek hadn't lost yet. Chloe wasn't sure exactly _how_ they would enforce that rule but she wasn't exactly looking to find out either.

Theo gave them the signal and it started. Carter moved forward, Nate moved back, closer to her. Derek watched them as they were constantly moving, shifting their weight from one foot to the other, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Carter charged at Derek unexpectedly. He tackled him, taking them both to the ground. Chloe couldn't see much, Nate was blocking her view, but she could hear the groans and grunts. Movies had made fighting look easy but it was anything but. It was messy, dirty, and uncoordinated for the most part. It was constantly changing; there wasn't a preset routine to follow. There couldn't be any anticipation of knowing what would come next.

Chloe looked over at Theo; he was occasionally glancing at his watch.

"Change of plans. It has been reduced to five minutes. Derek, there are three minutes left."

She heard Derek swear up a storm, followed by a groan from Carter.

Nate stepped away from her, going towards Derek at a jog. Chloe could see clearly now. Carter had Derek pinned to the ground, his hands behind his back. Derek was trying to shake him off but wasn't having any luck.

"Looks like you're going to lose this time," Carter sneered. Derek growled in response.

"Let him up," Nate said.

Carter looked up at him.

"I'm serious, let him up."

Carter got off of Derek and then let go of his hands. Derek cast a quick glance over to Chloe. She was undefended at the other end of the training area. He took off, running at her. Nate and Carter followed him, each taking a side.

Derek looked back and smirked. He would get to Chloe before they caught up with him.

Nate sprinted and barreled into Derek's side, taking him down into the dirt. Carter hurried and joined him, adding himself to the pile of flailing limbs.

"Minute and a half left," Theo announced.

Derek did his best to get Carter and Nate off of him. He tried rolling, he tried jerking his arms and legs free, but he couldn't.

The minutes had ticked by as fast as grains of sand fell in an hourglass.

"Thirty seconds left," Theo announced again, walking up to them.

Chloe gasped. Derek was going to lose.

"Derek, come on!" She yelled.

Derek tried again hearing her cry, but it was to no avail. Time had run out. They were going to be separated until the next training session. It was most likely going to be tomorrow but it wasn't unheard of to have several days between them either. Because Derek lost they would probably make sure they all had "enough time to recover" from their injuries, discounting that they all healed at a supernatural speed.

"Derek, I hope you realize the importance of the lesson today," Theo said sadly. Derek glared at him as Nate and Carter got off of him.

"Changing the rules half way through apparently is a great way to make sure that I lose," he growled.

"Look at the big picture, son," Theo explained. Derek was quiet. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about it," Theo added. "Nate, take Chloe back to the house."

* * *

><p>They didn't say much on the walk back to the house. Chloe was in shock. She couldn't tell if Nate was or not. He should have been pleased with himself. He and Derek had been fairly evenly matched until she was added to their training sessions. Since then, Derek had beaten him without any problems.<p>

"I imagine we'll be back out there tomorrow," Nate said, breaking the silence. "Otherwise I imagine Derek … well, I can't imagine he's going to be much fun to be around."

"Carter must love this," she grumbled.

"We didn't know about it. Well, we knew that eventually we'd go two-on-one but we didn't know about the time changing. Honest."

Chloe believed him without questioning. Nate had yet to lie to her. She knew that she shouldn't take everything that he said as the truth, but she couldn't help herself.

"I imagine probably the easiest thing is just for you to spend more time with your aunt or just hang out with Carter and me."

"They're still here?"

"They went out hunting this morning before you got up, but they'll be back later."

Chloe groaned. Being separated from Derek was bad enough, now with Keith and Malcolm hanging around, it grew exponentially worse.

"Yeah, they're not my favorites either," Nate added.

"The … rest of your family, they're not like that, are they?"

"Most part, no. There are a few cousins – they're like second or third cousins or something but we just call them cousins – that like talking a big game but that's about it. There's a few that can't seem to spend more than a few months before being locked up a jail somewhere for fighting or something like that. There's one named Edward, he kept getting locked up for spray painting cop cars."

"That sounds … not smart."

"Nope," Nate quipped. "It becomes worse when he tried to defend how he was … cleaning the cars too. Can't say piss really does that."

When they arrived at the house, they went their separate ways. Chloe went up to her room to see Lauren and Nate left to clean up his wounds.

* * *

><p>"You don't think you can remember what Davidoff's notes were?"<p>

"No, I don't, Chloe," Lauren sighed. Her bruising had all faded, minus one or two spots that were still yellow tinged. "I know he made notes because otherwise, he wouldn't have altered the rest of the file. All of the weird jumps in there are because he didn't think about fixing it."

"And you don't know where the St. Clouds are based out of?"

"I never found out for sure, but I think it is somewhere in Chicago."

"And that is where the file would be?"

"Most likely, if it wasn't destroyed. I wouldn't think so, not if they ever hoped to regain access to you."

"And the St. Clouds probably took everything from the laboratory," Chloe finished. "So if I want to find out what the rest of the story is, I have to get into the St. Clouds headquarters, steal a file that they didn't turn over to the Nasts, and make it out without anyone noticing? I'm sure that will be easy."

"Think about it for a moment," Lauren said. "You got what the St. Clouds turned over to the Nasts without having to do it yourself. You can do the same thing again."

"I'm not making another deal with Malcolm."

"I wouldn't normally say this, but Chloe, what other choice do you have? How long will they be patient and let us all sit up here like caged birds? If they are working on a something, it gives us time to figure out how to escape."

"Except that if they do manage to get my file and we escape before they get back, I'm still stuck not knowing anything."

"There is nothing _wrong_ with you, Chloe," Lauren said sternly. "You're more powerful than you should be. That is all."

Chloe watched her aunt.

"I need to know more about Dad. And apparently even _he_ doesn't know about himself or we could save ourselves the headache and just go and ask him."

"Knowing more about your dad isn't going to solve anything. You're a necromancer, not a magician. I'm sure whatever … deal with Malcolm can be arranged. Just let them have Derek. You know what is what they really want."

Chloe looked at her aunt. It always caught her off guard how quickly she could change, exposing a different side. She had thought that perhaps one day that they would make a real headway in changing her ideas about Derek. She had confided to him about her plan back in the laboratory in Buffalo, the one where Lauren was willing to sacrifice herself so that the group – including Derek – would be able to get away.

"I … I can't," Chloe said, gesturing around her as she left the room.

* * *

><p>Chloe searched for a small piece, a bit of blue sky and some green leaves. The puzzle piece search vexed her; it shouldn't be that hard to find a single piece.<p>

Nate sat opposite her. They had taken over the table as they had during the days leading up to Christmas. They were left alone for the most part. Theo and Carter were left tending to Derek. He had a few nasty bruises and cuts, or so Carter told them.

"Did you know?" Chloe asked as she shifted through the pile of pieces.

"About what?"

"The two-on-one or the time change, any of it," she replied tersely.

"Nope," he said. He was in a good mood. She suspected it was because he had been unofficially designated as her keeper during this mess.

"It didn't seem fair."

"Fights rarely are. Generally, that's a good thing for us," Nate explained. "If a fight is fair, it drags out, nasty wounds are received on both sides, but most importantly, it draws attention. Fair fights don't exist in our world."

"Cutting the time in half after it already started seemed pretty harsh."

Nate found the piece she was looking for and handed it to her.

"Well, that's the thing about fights. Everything is constantly changing. But I imagine that isn't what Theo wanted Derek to learn."

"And what was it?"

Nate looked at her. "You're a smart girl, Chloe. I'm sure if you give it a minute or two of good thinking you'll figure it out."

Chloe frowned at him and ignored him, searching for the next elusive piece. When she continued ignoring him, he sighed.

"C'mon, Chloe, it's easy, it's staring you practically in the face."

She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at him. He seemed quite happy with himself, even with her souring mood. She thought about it, not answering but not glaring at him either.

"Numbers," she mumbled. "You wanted to show how quickly it doesn't matter how well you fight if you're outnumbered."

"Part way there," Nate grinned.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. She was getting fed up with having to play his guessing games.

"I'm sick of guessing, Nate. Either spit it out or drop it."

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. It was a move that she had seen Derek perform countless of times, a symbolic way of letting the situation go but not letting it eat at him.

She didn't say anything. She let the silence sit there. She could let the silence remain there forever.

* * *

><p>She took her dinner with Lauren but excused herself back downstairs after Lauren started talking about making a deal with Malcolm to give Derek over to him if he would get the rest of her file. It was something she was not negotiating. They would find another way, a way that they didn't owe anything to anyone.<p>

If only she could come up with something like that.

She hoped to catch a glance of Derek while they were still eating. Meals, for the guys, lasted a while. She didn't. Either they had eaten earlier or they had taken his food to him. She hoped it wasn't because he was badly injured that he was on bed rest. She didn't actually see him get up afterwards.

The worry tugged at her mind. She was distracted by it. She let her guard down.

That was always when he struck.

She felt a hand wrap around her arm and she cringed. She yanked her arm free, only to be met with a laugh.

"I would have thought your spirit would have been broken by now," he laughed.

"Guess you're wrong like always." She crossed her arms in front of her. "What do you want?"

Malcolm rarely went anywhere alone. Keith was usually nearby. He was probably in another room, listening in, and waiting for a cue to barge in.

"I wanted to hear how your day went," he smiled.

Chloe eyed him. She knew that logically, she should watch her words and tone. She had gathered enough bits and pieces about Malcolm to know that he never had any qualms about killing humans, and that was what he had divided his world into, werewolves and humans. Other supernatural didn't really factor into it. She knew better not to rise to the bait but she didn't.

"Just another lovely reminder about you and your sick lessons this morning," she replied.

Malcolm walked over to the overstuff chair, sitting on it, and motioned her to join him. She merely walked over to behind the sofa.

"Now that lovely piece of theatre … that was _not_ me, pet. You have Theo to thank for that. I had no idea that was going on until after it was over."

"It seems like something you would plan."

"It does and my plan was to get there eventually, once Derek had a shot at succeeding. I underestimated him. He already had more than enough of a chance and Theo knew that, and Theo knew that I would unfairly receive the blame."

Chloe snorted.

"Tell me, why do you think my condition for helping you was being able to train Derek? If I wanted to pummel him, I could more than easily do it myself."

Chloe watched him. His presence made her skin crawl. She knew things about him and he didn't care that she knew. He seemed to rather enjoy it. She looked around, waiting for Keith to make his appearance.

"I'm waiting."

She shrugged.

It wasn't the answer Malcolm wanted. He suddenly stood up and before she could do anything, he had her pinned against the back wall. His breath hissed on her neck, his right hand pinned her arms over her head. He smiled.

"Now that I have your full attention, perhaps you can behave properly."

She wanted to glare at him but she couldn't. She grimaced; her wrists would be bruised tomorrow.

"I … I don't know," she said tepidly.

Malcolm smirked, tightening his grip. She bit back a cry.

"I … I don't know, I don't. You … you want Derek for something. You want him to join up with you and Keith?"

Malcolm smirked again.

"Wrong again, dear." He roughly let her go but did not move back. He instead leaned in closer. "Next time, I won't be as … lenient."

He turned and walked away. Keith poked his head in the room and smirked at the scene.

Nate pushed past Keith. He frowned, approaching her.

"Here, let's go in the kitchen," Nate said, escorting her out of the room. She followed him, letting him guide her. Her brain was stuck; it was replaying the scene over and over again. She wanted to throw up, hide, and get away from here. It wasn't safe. Malcolm was never safe to be around. As they clearly illustrated, they could separate her from the Cains.

"Sorry," Nate offered.

She looked up at him. "I need to talk to Theo. _Now_," she growled.

"Can't do that."

"You weren't supposed to let him corner me either," she hissed.

"I know. It won't happen again."

"_Theo_ isn't going to be happy. _Derek_ …" she trailed off, rubbing her wrists. "Well, I suppose he won't have any issue beating you into a pulp."

"You don't mean that," Nate replied.

She stared him down. She then turned her attention to her wrists. They may bruise even earlier than she thought. They already felt tender to the touch.

Nate moved closer to her, taking her wrists in his hand. "It doesn't look like anything too bad," he said softly. "Let me help," he followed with. He moved closer to her and suddenly his lips were on hers.

She couldn't move. His lips moved against hers and by instinct hers began to move in response. She suddenly came to and pushed him away. She breathed heavily, processing it all.

"I … What the hell!"

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that. I can make you happy, Chloe. I can make you much happier than Derek, I know it."

"_Nate_," she hissed, lowering her voice to a whisper. "No, just – no. Derek and I are together, end of story. And even if we weren't, _this_ wouldn't be the time!"

"I know that you … I know there are limitations with him. I wouldn't let that happen with us."

Her face reddened. "_That_ is none of your business."

"You can't tell me you don't feel the same way. All of our talks, all the time we've spent hanging out when you could have been with Carter or Theo, but no, you always found me. You can admit it to yourself. It doesn't make you a bad person. Derek may have been good for you at one time but I'm good for you now."

She was at a loss for words. She was angry, furious, mad, embarrassed, mortified, scared, and a million other emotions in-between.

"This conversation," she hissed, "_never_ happened. This entire thing? _Never happened_. I swear, if you tell a soul about this …" she trailed off. "Just, don't."

She stormed off.

* * *

><p>Carter found her the next morning sleeping in one of the trucks.<p>

"I don't think we're that bad of hosts around here."

She woke up groggy, taking in her surroundings. The night before came crashing back and she wished it was just some sort of twisted nightmare. If she had known how to hotwire and drive stick, she would have been half way … well, she would have been gone with several hours head start.

"I … I just needed to get away from everyone."

"Well, next time? Tell someone. Your aunt has been throwing a fit once she realized you never went to bed last night."

She groaned.

"Is she always a bitch or is it because the whole werewolf thing?"

"Werewolf thing," Chloe replied, getting out of the truck and walking back to the house. Carter walked beside her.

"That has to be fun dealing with."

Chloe shrugged, stopping outside the front door. "I don't really have to anymore. Up until now, we hadn't really talked in a few years."

"I get it," Carter said. "We're having another rematch today with Derek. You should have seen how he's been since he lost yesterday. Pathetic doesn't even cover it."

She laughed a little. "This is probably the longest we've gone without seeing each other in a while, besides your little training trip."

"Don't even get me started on that. I didn't think he could be in a worse mood, but surprise, he can. This little bit … came pretty close."

"I should go inside," Chloe said, cutting the conversation short. Carter looked to her wrists for a brief, fleeting moment.

"After you get cleaned up and have some breakfast, meet us outside in the back."

* * *

><p>Today's exercise was the same as yesterdays. She was behind Nate and Carter. She looked everywhere <em>but<em> where Nate was. She couldn't look in him in the eye. She wasn't sure if she could ever again. It wasn't the same as it was with Simon. That had been a simple misreading of emotions on both of their parts. This, _this_, was something that had taken her by surprise, something that never even registered on her radar until it was happening and already too late to stop it.

Nate had positioned himself so that he was the one closer to her. She wanted to scoot away, to have them switch positions, but if she said anything, it would only bring up questions. She could bring up the issue that he had let Malcolm corner her – something that her mind was clearly putting in the _not ready to deal with_ pile – but that would only make the scrutiny worse.

Theo blew the whistle and it was on. Five minutes.

It took Derek three.

All was right with the world in that moment. He grabbed her, kissing her. She hesitated only for a fraction of a second before giving in. When they broke apart, he eyed her over and stopped at her wrists.

"Let's enjoy this moment, okay?" She answered.

"It's time we took a _walk_," Derek replied.

* * *

><p>Their <em>walk<em> was considerably less _walking_ and more actual walking.

Chloe wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved by this. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop replaying last night's encounter over and over in her head. Had she led Nate on in some way? Sure, she liked his company but company was limited around here. It wasn't as though she had a lot of options while Derek was gone with Carter. At that point, it was literally Nate, Theo, or being alone.

She hoped that Derek would never find out about it. She didn't know how she could explain it. She felt a bit of fear creep up. He would be absolutely furious, but it wouldn't be the outward rage she was afraid of. He would retreat into himself, chalk this up as proof that perhaps everyone back at Badger Lake was right and they would be better off separate. She didn't want it to come to that; she didn't even want to have that conversation again. Once was more than enough for one lifetime.

Their walk led them back to the house, much sooner than she would have liked. She didn't like the situation they were walking into. It had to be handled carefully, delicately. She felt like lately she was a bull in a china shop, madly crashing into everything despite trying to remain careful.

Everyone was already in the living room, even Lauren. She had only come downstairs a handful of times but she suspected she knew the reason why.

Malcolm was standing next to the fireplace, Keith hanging back by the wall. Theo, Nate, and Carter were all sitting, waiting. They didn't look happy with what was going on.

"Glad to see that you two didn't take long," Theo said, noting their appearance. "It's time we all had a big sit down and talk about the next step."

Chloe took in a deep breath. It was happening. Finally, they weren't going to be spinning their wheels in one place. She could _leave_ this place and be done with the Cains. She didn't care if they _did_ have to go to Antarctica, she would leave tonight if it was that simple.

"Perhaps you would like to explain the purpose of the … lesson, you taught Derek?" Malcolm asked Theo. "Or, should we give the scholar a chance to see if he has figured it out? Or perhaps we should see if the girl has been paying attention?"

Theo started but looked over at Derek. Derek gave him a nod and started.

"It was showing that despite how well I may fight, numbers matter and that … mutts don't fight fair. If we," he squeezed Chloe's hand, "run into anyone, she'll automatically be the target. She'll be killed or worse, bitten."

A chill ran down her spine hearing Derek stating it so plainly.

"And that's it? Surely you gleamed more than that," Theo suggested.

Derek hesitated, rubbing circles with his thumb over the back of Chloe's hand. "It was also a display on the importance of having allies … a pack, of sorts."

Malcolm grinned at this revelation. "And what do you make of this revelation?"

"I … it makes sense, logically. If you want to survive, the best way is to find allies and make a plan, look out for each other. The saying 'the lone wolf dies, the pack survives' has merit to it."

"So you'll do it," Theo asked hopefully.

"On a condition – we have to get the rest of the files from the St. Clouds. Everything wasn't turned over to the Nasts. We still need more information to move forward."

Malcolm and Keith exchanged a very pleased look.

"If, and _if_, we do this, you will be all in. There will be no negotiation on orders. You will obey me," Malcolm oozed.

Derek looked over at Theo and back to Malcolm. By the expression on his face, he hadn't been expecting this.

"Not Theo? I thought it would be with the Cains –"

Malcolm interrupted him. "_No_. I will be Alpha. Theo will be an elder, and thus, you will have to obey him but all orders originate from _me_."

"If … if you form a pack, isn't this … declaring war against _the_ Pack?" Chloe asked.

"Tell me, would you let the same people that let the experiments happen and then work alongside those responsible continue their happy lives or would you want to hold them accountable? If they are allowed to continue, you'll never be able to make a home somewhere. You'll have to live your life with one eye always watching your back. I can't imagine you're looking forward to a lifetime of that. The only way you'd avoid that is to either leave Derek or let this happen."

"Can we –"

"There is no 'we'," Keith interrupted. "It is Derek's choice to make. Either he joins or you all leave … with a day or two head start … if we're feeling generous."

Derek looked over to Theo, who was giving him a small smile.

Lauren remained silent, watching it unfold. Chloe couldn't look to her for encouragement.

"First, you have to get the files. You have to fulfill that end of the deal first. After that, I'm in. If you can't get it, we all," he gestured at himself, Chloe, and Lauren, "get to leave without anyone trailing us."

Chloe gave Derek a slight nudge and he leaned down to her. She pointed out that Malcolm hadn't upheld the deal they currently had – she still didn't have a necromancer trainer.

"Oh, you'll get one," Malcolm grinned. "I already have one picked out and everything. I think you'll like her, she's … a bit more free spirited than most. It'll be a good match for you. She won't mind the company either," he said and Keith grinned.

"But when will she get here?"

"It'll be after we retrieve the files. We already know where she's at and her schedule the next few weeks. It won't be any problem arranging her travel."

"The deal was for training for training. Chloe should receive her now. There isn't any guarantee that you'll be able to get the files."

Malcolm strolled next to Derek and grasped his shoulder.

"I understand where you're coming from. Knowledge is indeed the greatest weapon. You have to trust that _my_ knowledge is enough for now."

"Breaking into the St. Clouds facility won't be easy," Lauren said. Everyone turned to her; it was unexpected that she would join the conversation. "While it's true that they aren't as powerful as the Cortzes or as large as the Nasts, they are arguably the most paranoid. There will be countless protections against theft of any sort in the building."

Keith started to move from his spot but Malcolm held up a finger and he retreated back. Malcolm went over to her and she did her best not to shrink under his gaze.

"It sounds like you know quite a bit about them."

"I was a researcher for the Edison Group."

"I know that, but that doesn't explain why you would know about the St. Clouds. They were in a completely different facility, a different state even."

"I went there once for a presentation. There was a long orientation we had to sit through. If you so much as stole a post it note without someone signing off on it, it would cause the alarms to go off."

"Perhaps you would like to share your expertise then?"

"I'm sure they've changed it since the last time I went. It must be over a decade now."

Malcom smirked "Regardless, I'm sure my contacts can find out what we're dealing with and formulate a plan quickly. The sooner we finish up this business, the better. Every day we're sitting here, the more … harm the Pack does."

"Harm?" Carter asked.

"What else would you call it? Turning your back on your own kind and then siding with the experimenters?"

"If they didn't know about it –"

"That is the _point_," Malcolm stressed. "The Pack is supposed to know all about _all_ werewolves. They have lost sight of that. They're too busy playing games and not focusing on what needs to be done. The former Alpha did _not_ do his job. He _let_ the experiments happen and then he dragged the society back into the supernatural community, completely disregarding why we left in the first place."

"Why?" Derek asked.

"You see how she," he nodded towards Lauren, "looks at you. Now imagine that she is capable of _magic_ or something else. We exiled ourselves to protect ourselves. While the rest of the races huddled together to cobble together the _council _to defend themselves from the sorcerers, we excluded ourselves. The easiest way to protect the race is simply not to be involved in any of their petty disputes."

"That sounds … cowardly," Carter said, slowly.

Malcolm looked at Theo. "What the hell have you been teaching your boys?"

"This is all news to me," Theo said. "You forget that Cains have never been Pack. We don't know those inner secrets that you keep locked away at Stonehaven."

Malcolm muttered something under his breath.

"Think back to the lesson that Derek learned the importance of having allies when the goal is to take down a single target. _We_ were the target. Sorcerers wanted to control us and we resisted. We should have been allies to the council, logic dictates. But _no_, the council instead wanted us exterminated, wiped out. They were well on their way until finally the Alpha decreed that we were withdrawing from the community and it was passed along the way to any mutts that had any common sense. The council wanted to make sure that we couldn't be persuaded to join the sorcerers and extinction was what they came up with."

"That must have been hundreds of years ago," Derek said.

"It does not matter. You see what the danger we're already in? _Experiments_. They already see us as lessor, inferior creatures. I am not going to stand by and watch our race be handed over to either the council or the cabals to be played with. _We_ need to do what is best for _us_. I would expect that you would understand this better than anyone here, Derek. They only stole years from my life; they created you for the entire purpose of _playing with you_, _manipulating you_. My promise is that _that_ would end. We would not be treated like inferiors, not anymore."

Malcolm let the silence hang there.

"Do we have a deal?"

Derek stood up and walked toward Malcolm. He grasped Malcolm's outstretched hand and gave it a shake.

"We have a deal."

* * *

><p>Just a reminder - first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice! You want some Chlerk to help balance out this chapter? Leave a review!<p> 


	9. Adaptability

**A/N:** A huge thanks to everyone who has left reviews so far! As always, first ten reviewers will receive a drabble of their choice. You can see drabbles I've written for previous chapters in my drabble collection, _Tales of Another Life_.

Another reminder about our _Atoning _forum in the DP section! We should have our new chapter either today/this weekend!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Darkest Powers, Darkness Rising_ or _Women of the Otherworld_ series.

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Adaptability<p>

Malcolm and Keith were already gone when Chloe and Derek woke the next morning. She had spent the night tossing and turning. She was furious at Derek. Sure, they had talked about hypotheticals and staying with the Cains longer than they had to, but this was far from hypothetical.

Lauren didn't seem too bothered by Derek promising to stay "with his own kind", as she so lovingly put it last night. Lauren had tried to talk to her before they went to bed about it but anything that she said, only made Chloe more furious at the situation Derek had placed them in.

The fury had given way to sadness, as the night progressed and she tossed for the umpteenth time. It all felt so hopeless. They would never be able to be out on their own. They would constantly be under the control of someone or some group. It was the Edison Group, from afar and up close, then a few months of supposed freedom, during which they were tracked like dogs by the St. Clouds Cabal. They had then sought refuge in another cabal, the Nasts. They were there for years until Derek discovered Sean's body in the woods, which led them to a few more months on the run. They had limited options, the Nasts were surely tracking them, if not other cabals as well, and seemingly the Pack was the best place to go. Derek never had any interaction with them, despite Sean's promises. Instead, they had a bad encounter with the Pack and now they were stuck with the Cains. Chloe doubted that Theo would willingly let his grandson go and Malcolm did not seem like the charitable sort.

All of the running, all of the escaping, everything had led them to being back under control by someone else, someone that they didn't know what their true agenda was. It wouldn't be the first time they were lied to about such things.

It all seemed bleak. What little chance they did have at escaping, seemingly vanished the moment Derek shook Malcolm's hand.

"Chloe?"

She was broken out of her thoughts by a coffee mug being pushed her way. She took it and sipped it. Maybe some caffeine could help give her a boost. She badly needed it.

"I was talking to the boys last night and they had a few questions," Theo said. He looked over at Derek whose interest he had peaked.

"Now that Derek will be joining us, there is the question of what you will do," he started off slowly. "I get that you two have been together a while, but there are some serious things to think about. Things are going to be pretty nasty the next few months out. Some stuff won't be fittin' for you to really be around. I get that you deal with the dead things and all, but there are some things that … well, some things I imagine even Derek hasn't even been exposed to. You've never run with a pack, have you?"

Derek shook his head no.

"I figured as much. You see, when you get a group together like that, blood tends to run hot and it may not be the smartest idea to have you hanging around when that happens."

She didn't need him to spell it out. She knew what he was hinting at. She had chills thinking about it.

"We have some time before Malcolm and Keith gets back, so we all can think about some options. I imagine you'll want to stay close, but things will have to change some. Derek will be with us, so he'll need to stay with us more often than you'd like. There would be spells that you wouldn't see him for weeks at a time."

Derek didn't seem too happy with the news.

"I'll have to talk to your aunt about some things too. I'm sure she won't mind getting back to her old life, but there are still things to be sorted out."

Theo finished the rest of his breakfast and left Chloe and Derek sitting there. Her coffee had turned cold, her eggs were barely touched. She replayed the conversation over in her head. Derek had to have known some of what would happen if he did stay with them. Theo must have brought some things up to him during their separation.

"I'm going for a run," she said suddenly, leaving the table. Derek watched her go.

* * *

><p>"I hate running," she wheezed as she weaved between trees. She had hoped that it would provide a distraction. She was right, she was now focused on how horrifically out of shape she was. The cold air made her lungs burn with a certain fire that she swore was unnatural.<p>

She knew that Derek was out here too, somewhere, keeping an eye on her. Nate was probably out here too. She didn't see him or Carter at breakfast but that only meant they either woke up early or Malcolm took them with him. It would simplify things so much if they were simply _gone_.

The less she thought about Nate, the better. It was completely out of nowhere, wasn't it? She knew that yes, they had spent a considerable amount of time together but that was because Derek was not around. If Derek had been around, that amount of time never would have happened.

Her mind started to buzz as she approached the edge of the property. She stopped to catch her breath. It seemed so arbitrary. An invisible line separated her from escaping her captives. Liz had been so insistent that she not summon _anything_ that even being this close to the line seemed dangerous.

It was also taunting. Surely whatever would happen _couldn't_ be worse than before. It seemed impossible that somehow that there could be something worse than that.

"Chloe," someone called behind her. She turned to look but she couldn't see who it was through the trees. Nate appeared from behind a tree and walked towards her.

She threw her head back and groaned in frustration. This would not go over well.

"You need to come back over here, 'loe," he said, stopping a few feet from her.

She rolled her eyes and continued her jog, away from him. Nate followed, calling her name every few minutes, letting her know that he was still there.

Fed up with it all, she stopped and waited for him to get close enough so that she could whisper. She couldn't have anyone overhearing any of this.

"What do you want," she hissed, looking around to make sure that they were alone.

"I just want to talk to you."

She took in a deep breath and sighed. "There is _nothing_ to talk about. I am more than happy to pretend that _that_ never happened and if you have any sense of self preservation, you'll do the same."

"I can't do that 'loe –"

"And my name is _Chloe_, not whatever weird nickname you've come up with. Now listen – if you thought I was sending you mixed signals, I'm sorry. You were just the best available option on how to spend time away from Derek. That was _it_," she stressed.

"I know you felt something when we kissed –"

She held up her hands and started backing away. "Nate? This conversation is _over_. There isn't anything to talk about."

"But you kissed me back," he whispered, moving closer to her.

"It was an accident, a reflex, nothing more," she insisted. "I'm going to finish my run and I suggest you go the other way."

She started to run but she felt Nate's hand on her shoulder. She picked up her pace but he was right behind her. She felt him grab at her shoulder again but he missed. He instead grabbed the chain and she felt the lack of weight as the pendant slipped off the broken chain and onto the ground.

The buzzing and tugging in her head increased tenfold and she cradled her head in her hands.

"Shit, sorry," Nate said, his voice distorted.

She slowly sank to the ground. She could see the pendant lying on the ground but it took a concentrated effort on her part to pick it up. Once she managed the seemingly herculean feat, the world returned to as it was. The buzzing and tugging went back to their low levels and she could hear properly again. Her limbs no longer felt as though they were weighed down.

"Just … just _go_," she said. She didn't hear a response and assumed that he finally honored her request. She stared at the pendant. It was still the light blue it had been for years now. It seemed odd that it started off a deep ruby red color. It had shifted to purple once she hit puberty and started seeing ghosts again. It continued shifting colors but much more slowly to a blue color. After the incident, it was a lighter shade of blue. She thought it was the same shade of light blue but it could be lighter. It was hard to judge.

She noticed that it _did_ look slightly different. There seemed to be something in the middle of the crystal. She pulled it closer for a better look but whatever it was, it was gone. It was probably just the way the light was hitting it.

Chloe closed her fist around it and started the long walk back to the house.

* * *

><p>Lauren was in arguably the best mood she had been in since she arrived.<p>

"You should start thinking about where you want to move to," Lauren insisted. "You can always apply to UCLA like you always wanted too."

"I'm not just leaving. They're bringing an instructor here for me."

"Not necessarily. Malcolm said that you would be provided one. You can pick anywhere for that, it doesn't have to be here."

"But Derek –"

"Chloe," Lauren interrupted, her tone turning grave. "You really need to think about what is coming. Sure, they have taken you in … for now. They won't always be as accommodating. You've never seen how much group think they participate in. It wouldn't take much for them to turn on you, even Derek."

Chloe sighed.

"I know how they operate better than you do in groups, you have to remember that. Werewolf society … it isn't accommodating at all to women. I don't know how the mutts operate, but until Elena Michaels arrived, there simply hadn't been a female werewolf in at least a hundred years. They aren't involved at all with the Pack. There aren't any mothers, sisters, grandmothers – there is virtually no female presence. The boys are taken from their mothers when they're infants and the Pack raises them. Most of them, the most contact they make with women are in bars or worse."

"Theo said that I could stay."

Lauren smirked. "Oh did he? Or did he say that you could stay nearby? Chloe … this is what is best for Derek and you need to realize that this is the best for you too. It is inevitable that you're going your own separate ways now. He has to learn more about … his stuff and you have a real chance to learn about your abilities. You can't just throw that away because of some boy."

"He's not just some boy –"

"Chloe, let me finish, I know he's important for you. I have received that message loud and clear for years now. But tell me, did he consult you at all about his decision to join them?"

She was silent.

"You need to do the same," Lauren said softly. "You don't want to end up like your uncle. He wasn't provided the chance you have … if he had, he probably would still be here and he would be able to guide you through all of this."

"I … I'll have to think on it, okay?"

Lauren reached out and grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

"You need to weigh this decision very heavily, Chloe. Ben … you would have adored him. But, once his powers came into play, everything changed. Imagine that you didn't have that necklace as protection. He was harassed, day and night. He finally reached his breaking point. He didn't have anyone to talk to – we simply didn't know about his abilities until it was too late, not until we put all of the pieces together. I won't let you repeat his fate."

"I want to talk about Dad," Chloe said, pulling away. She felt Lauren's arms stiffen.

* * *

><p>Something about Malcolm's grand plan didn't sit right with her. She ran it over and over in her head but she always hit the same dead end.<p>

Why? Why bother with any of it?

Derek was less helpful than she had hoped. He had given her some insight as to what the Cains told him but it still didn't add up. Something tugged at her; she knew she was forgetting something important. If she could find that one string, she knew she could use it to figure the rest of it out. It was an itch that she desperately tried to scratch. She thought about it when she ran, she thought about it when she watched the seconds tick by on her watch, she thought about it in her sleep.

It finally clicked.

She found Theo in the kitchen. Lunch was approaching soon and he was already pulling out various meats and cheeses.

"I was hoping you could answer a question for me," she started shyly.

"If there is anything can do to help, you know I'm always up for it," he grinned back.

"There just has been something bugging me about Malcolm's grand plan on taking on the Pack. And … I think I have it figured out and I wanted to know your opinion on it."

He looked over at her and set down the platter on the table.

"I'm afraid I don't know the fine details but I can see if you have any misconceptions about it."

Chloe sat down and stared at the table for a moment. If she could take him off guard, she might be able to coax an honest answer out of him.

"I … It's about Derek's dad. Nate told me a little about him …," she trailed off. She looked up and saw that she had commanded most of Theo's attention. "He … he told me how he died. The Pack did it – torture. They did that because he joined an uprising against the Pack."

Theo's face hardened and Chloe waited a moment.

"What I don't understand is why would you agree to this? It doesn't make any sense. You're putting your entire family at risk for the same thing. If it was vengeance you wanted, you would have done something like this a long time ago, right after it happened. You wouldn't wait almost twenty years later."

Theo walked over to the sink, keeping his back to her. He was silent, so Chloe continued.

"And I know it isn't because of the experiments. You've known about Derek for several years now. We've been holed up in the same spot all that time since you found us. You could have taken him any time."

"You're smarter than Derek let me think," Theo said softly.

"I want to know what is going on. It doesn't make _sense_. It doesn't …" she trailed off again. Her eyes darted back to Theo's back, still immobile by the sink. "I understand family is important. This goes against that. This is signing your family up to be massacred."

"What do you know about mutts?"

"Not much."

Theo turned and faced her. His face was weary but he had a stubborn look on that old bulldog face of his.

"Mutt life isn't easy. We've made the best of it, but roots are important. I've struggled with Zack's death a long, long time. He may have gotten mixed up in a bad crowd but what they were striving for was the right thing."

"But that doesn't explain the timing. If it was, you would have done something _then_."

Theo sadly shook his head. "I couldn't, not then. I had the boys to look after. I had to make sure that they were able to grow up."

"But … why? It doesn't make sense."

"It does make sense, to us. I think what you're really struggling with is why it makes sense to Derek."

* * *

><p>"How much do you really know about them?"<p>

Derek looked over at Chloe. They had a rare moment alone. The rest of the house was already asleep. They had the living room to themselves.

"I know enough."

"Okay," Chloe said, "that isn't a very helpful answer. Alright, let's start with something basic. Have you learned about the family tree?"

"I guess," Derek shrugged. "Carter, Nate, and I all have different dads, brothers, we're all cousins. We're part of the main family tree. The rest of the cousins are related to us through Theo's brothers or going even a generation or two back."

"Did you know you had a half-brother?"

"Half?"

"Yeah, half. Nate let it slip out once. I'm not sure how old he would have been, but he was older than us. Maybe around Nate's age, he didn't say. But, yeah, you had an older half-brother."

Derek sat there for a moment.

"So, I'm taking this as a sign that you didn't know?"

Derek sighed. "I … no, I didn't know. But, what would be the point? It's not like he's currently around to cause any problems."

"No, it is the reason why it's a problem. Did you know that Zach was Theo's favorite son? Or did you know that Theo had picked Zach to succeed him as the official head of the family? So once Zach died, those plans shifted, but it was okay since Theo had Arnold –"

"Arnold?"

"Yeah," Chloe shrugged. "I'm guessing the result of watching too many eighties action movies. Anyway – yeah, he _had _Arnold until he managed to get himself killed in a fight. A few years later, Theo somehow finds out about you and that's when they found us in Pennsylvania."

Derek sat there for a moment, processing it all.

"Or – did you know that Theo already has plans for you? Nate said that he had plans for Nate and Carter too. Plans that you weren't consulted on, he just decided and everyone is going along with them."

"Do you know what they are?"

"Well, no," Chloe said.

"Do you think you could find out?"

She shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't seen that coming and wished that Derek had never asked it. "I don't think so. I might have, before … but I don't think so now, no."

"What's changed?"

"Nothing's changed," she shrugged. The quicker she could change the topic the better. She didn't need to have the memory of why she simply talking to Nate about these things anymore on her mind more than she already had. "Just … you know, you're all busy training now that you're back. While you and Carter were gone, it was downtime and I managed to find a way to get Nate to talk."

Derek gave her a surveying look.

"You think that they would tell me, now?"

"I don't know," Chloe said, her shoulders sagging. "Maybe, maybe not. I wasn't supposed to know any of this, so it'll just cause some backlash towards me and will guarantee that I won't be able to get any useful information from anyone the rest of the time we're here."

Derek was watching her. She could tell that his mind was working, watching her body language. She knew she was horrid at disguising her body language but she only had to hope that Derek wouldn't press her for the details.

"It is something to think about," she said softly, breaking his stare. "If they won't tell you what they have planned for you, then clearly they don't trust you and aren't planning on keeping you around very long."

* * *

><p>Watching sports was not something she ever particularly enjoyed. She grew to enjoy watching basketball over time as she gained an understanding for the intricacies of the game. Simon was a huge influence with that. He had deemed himself the coordinator for any and all sports at Badger Lake.<p>

It was always amusing watching Simon and Derek team up against Corey and Daniel. It didn't take too many match ups before they mixed up teams. Derek and Simon had too many advantages put together – Simon had years of basketball experience, Derek was easily taller than the rest, and they had spent years playing pick up against each other. Once they switched up the teams, it became more interesting to watch. There were a few amusing times where Simon was the one being ganged up on by all three but they were rare occurrences.

Carter and Nate didn't believe in such things. The match was definitely one-sided. A game of two versus one tended to be that way.

Chloe knew that it was just another variant of training, something to keep them from becoming bored or complacent with the never ending game of protecting Chloe. Derek probably would never become complacent with that game but she did enjoy the reprieve. It was nice to be able to just watch instead of making sure she wasn't about to be tackled and carried off somewhere.

While she wasn't looking, Derek had changed. The Derek back in Badger Lake would never have made such a decision without consulting her. Nor would the Derek on the run; well, their most recent run that is. It wouldn't have been atypical during their first adventure. He had offered to go with Liam and Ramon willingly if it saved her life.

They never really talked about when they realized they had feelings or when they first had an inkling of when they started. Chloe wasn't the over sentimental type and feelings in general made Derek uncomfortable.

This was something new. Something was different. She now had to find out what.

Something was off. She could see that things were different. Carter and Nate were usually very loose and at ease after they had worked off some energy outside. They still seemed a bit cagey, for a lack of a better word.

Theo was nowhere to be found. That was also odd. He was usually nearby, making sure that the teasing or roughhousing didn't get too out of hand between Nate and Carter. Derek, she had noted, had occasionally played back some if someone else initiated it.

Now instead the boys were staying quiet, almost huddled together. Derek was off cleaning up and they were still in the living room, not doing anything in particular. Most of the time, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but because of the timing it was odd. They _should_ be in the kitchen consuming half of the pantry. They _should_ be continuing to roughhouse in the house and have Theo yell about not breaking anything. They _should_ also being cleaning up because they _needed_ it.

It was unsettling how _nice_ the quiet the house was.

Derek came downstairs and eyed them all. Chloe shrugged. Nate and Carter quickly departed once they realized that Derek was back and Chloe desperately hoped that they were going to clean up.

"Can we ... talk?"

"I would like that," she confessed. "But will you … be able to answer my questions?"

Derek let himself fall back onto the sofa. Chloe tentatively took the seat next to him. Despite her misgivings, she couldn't get past the butterflies in her stomach. He looked relaxed in this moment. His hair was still damp.

He reminded her of the boy she met a long time ago.

"I _want_ you to understand, I really do, and it's just hard to put into words."

Derek had never been the greatest with words but he had always been more than capable of letting everyone know his exact stance on a subject. This was new, uncharted territory.

Derek opened his mouth to say something but a yell interrupted them.

"Boys," Theo yelled from somewhere back in the house. Nate and Carter came thundering out of the rooms they were in and went towards it. Derek followed them and so did Chloe.

She hurried after them and almost ran into Derek's back. He was simply standing there in the doorway, blocking her view.

"What do you think," Theo asked.

"I … it's great," Derek said slowly. Chloe nudged him to the side and saw what he was staring at.

It was a birthday cake with twenty three candles on it.

A wave of guilt washed over her. Was it already his birthday? How could she have forgotten it?

She saw the looks on Theo's, Nate's, and even Carter's faces. They were happy about celebrating this with Derek. She logically knew why they were happy – they were all related and they finally had something like a birthday to celebrate together. It made sense logically, but emotionally she couldn't handle it.

It was wrong.

Kit, Simon, and even Tori were his family. They were the ones that decorated the house and surprised Derek with different cakes. After the great cake crisis of 2010, Simon and Tori each picked out their own flavor in the hopes that there wouldn't be any issues with no one liking the cake they picked out. They had originally planned on picking up a cake from the grocery store but they were out of any box mixes. They had to resort to something they hadn't anticipated doing; they had to bake from scratch.

To say it was a disaster was putting it mildly. Even Derek couldn't manage to choke down a piece. Ever since, they always had two cakes in case one of them turned out to be a secret biological weapon awaiting deployment. After the first year, Simon and Tori's cakes vastly improved (although finding a proper recipe instead of just guessing at ingredients probably helped more than anything) and soon they always had cakes from scratch for birthdays.

"It isn't much, but we wanted to celebrate it with you for the first time," Theo said. "I hope we have plenty more to make up for the ones that we missed."

Derek grinned and shook his hand. Theo took that as an invitation to bring him in for a bear hug.

Chloe remained rooted where she stood.

"Blow'em out, the wax is dripping already," Carter teased.

She didn't know what Derek would wish for but she had a strong hunch of what he _wouldn't_.

She excused herself, not that any of them really paid much attention other than Nate, and went back upstairs and found Lauren.

She tried saying a few things but each time her voice went quiet. She finally managed to choke out, "It's his birthday today."

"Hmm," Lauren hummed quietly. "That doesn't seem to be pleasing you."

"They bought him a cake. We don't do store bought," Chloe muttered to herself.

"You can't really fault him for wanting to celebrate his _birthday_, Chloe. It isn't what you usually do but … well, you might need to prepare yourself for the way things are going to be changing. Things like this … all of this," she gestured to the room, "they tend to change in an instant."

"He's supposed to celebrate with Kit and Simon and Tori. They're the ones that have been there for him. The Cains haven't. They only pop up when it's convenient for them."

"Chloe," Lauren said softly, "you need to loosen your grip some. We've been over this countless times already. He is a _werewolf_. _They_ are werewolves. More than that, they share the same DNA. You've seen the reports just like I have – all of this was inevitable."

"No, no it's not," she argued. "It can't be that basic. It can't be that simple."

Lauren brushed back a strand of her hair. "Sometimes things are simpler than we'd like them to be. Sometimes it would make us feel better to know that things were infinitely more complicated. Sometimes it would validate us to know that there is something deeper going on than what is on the surface. As much as you don't want to admit it, Derek has accepted his role. He belongs with _them_. They are family and there isn't much you can do to separate it now. Family is family."

"That never stopped you and Dad from arguing."

"That is different. We aren't related by blood. It was through your mother and _you_ that we interacted. Otherwise," she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Why do you hate dad so much?"

"I'll tell you someday. Not today. Today you have enough problems without me adding to it. What you need to do is realize that our time is limited here. If you want to spend the rest of the afternoon up here with me, you are more than welcome too. Or you can go back downstairs, put a smile on that face, and pretend nothing is wrong so that they don't start thinking that something suspicious is going on. We are going to get out of here Chloe and I highly doubt Derek is going with us, at least not willingly."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** As a reminder - please leave a review! First ten receive a drabble of their choice! Another short reminder about the forum as well! I promise I don't bite. :)


	10. Promises Held

**A/N: **This is it! This is the end of _Promises Made_. As usual, first ten reviewers receive a drabble of their choice! Also - be sure to read the note at the end!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Darkest Powers_ or any other characters from _Women of the Otherworld_.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Promises Held<p>

Theo hung up the phone and let out a whoop of excitement. It echoed in the living room and caused even Lauren to peer out of her room from upstairs to see what was going on.

"They got 'em! They found them all!" He yelled again. Nate seemed happy with the news and even Carter let out a small smile. Chloe found that Derek's face sported a small grin of his own.

Her own face had remained frozen. It was a done deal then. Their fates had been sealed by Malcolm's success. They would be staying with the Cains … possibly for life. If Malcolm held true to his absurd plan on taking on the Pack, they may not have much time left.

If she was going to escape, it had to be between now and before Malcolm's return. She would have to just let the instructor part of the deal go. For all she knew, he could just simply be planning on giving her The Dummy's Guide to Necromancy and that was it.

She looked up and Lauren had already returned to their room. It wouldn't take much to convince her that they needed to leave now. She had been ready ever since Malcolm left. Lauren never said exactly what she knew about Malcolm, but she hinted that he was not someone to cross or owe. Leaving would be crossing him, of sorts, but she wanted to keep living. Malcolm didn't seem the type that would be too upset if non-werewolves were caught in the crossfire.

"Cheer up," Derek nudged her. "You'll have all of your answers before you know it."

She couldn't believe that he was going along with all of this. This all had to be a façade of sorts. Surely Derek wasn't this thickheaded.

She pulled him aside for a walk later that evening. They walked in silence until they were decently in the woods before she could bring herself to look at him.

"I don't understand you," she said, looking him in the eyes. "We are supposed to decide things, we are supposed to plan things and now … now you have us signed alongside a werewolf that wants to go on a murdering spree."

Derek remained silent. Rage filled her.

"You better start explaining things and _quickly_," she snarled. "You're gambling my life, my aunt's life, your life on this all working out. You really think you can go and help him murder the Pack and whoever else he has on his list?"

"It's not a gamble. I have it all worked out."

"And would you care to share that with me? I believe I have the right to know how you're planning on getting _all_ of us of here unharmed."

Derek looked at Chloe and sighed. "I thought you would understand. I guess they were right. You … yes, you were an experiment but I was _raised_ as an experiment. You had a happy home –"

"You know that isn't true," Chloe seethed. "You know that of the two of us, you had the far happier childhood. Kit took you in. Simon took you in as a brother without hesitation. I had my mother die and watch my father fade away and my aunt circling us like a hawk. No – if this is some sort of pathetic wish for revenge, I get that but we're not doing it that way. Kit raised you better than that."

Derek spun on her and pushed her against a tree. She panicked. Derek had only done things like this to protect her before. He wasn't protecting her now. She felt the buzzing in her head increase and she tried to calm it down before it got out of hand.

They were both breathing heavily. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face. She stared at the ground as she tried to focus on her exercises. The fond memories of them together in the movie theater would not come.

As much as she hated herself, but her thoughts were racing back to Lauren's remarks. She had warned Chloe that one day that Derek would lose himself. He would be angered and that something would snap inside of him. The Derek she knew would vanish and all that would be left was that _beast_ that lived inside his skin. Lauren warned her for _years_ about how it wasn't about _if_ it would happen, but _when_. Perhaps that would explain why Derek had seemed different. He had seemed different ever since he returned from his training session with Carter in the woods and he seemed even more different after the twenty-four hour separation they had as a training punishment.

Perhaps the Derek she knew _was_ gone. Her breath caught in her throat as the thought raced across her mind.

"Shit," Derek said, his voice husky. "Chloe … I … I didn't mean," he said slowly, backing away from her, unpinning her from the tree.

She still couldn't bring herself to look at him. She continued to stare at the ground. She could feel that there were more dead rabbits in the bushes not too far from her. It wouldn't take much to push her over the edge and reanimate them.

"You really need to explain yourself," she said softly. "The Derek I know ...," she trailed off.

He rubbed his face but didn't answer her. She started to say something but stopped herself. She needed to know that his answers came from him, that they weren't something that he agreed to placate her.

"Being with the guys … it just feels different. It's … nice, I guess, not being the only one."

She nodded for him to continue. He began to pace.

"I … I don't really know, Chloe. I know that's not an excuse or answer, but I don't, really. I just know that it's nice not being the odd one out. It feels … right, I guess, being with them. I don't know how much of it is nature, but wolves run in packs, right? And you know that there is _the_ Pack, so obviously there is an acknowledgement of how things are better when we're in a group. It's one of the things that the Pack doesn't allow mutts to do. They don't allow them to have their own packs, their own groups where they can just … belong. And," he took in a breath, running his hand through his hair. "I don't know, really, I'm rambling hoping an explanation pops out."

The old Derek wouldn't ramble, hoping for something to appear. The old Derek would remain stubbornly, obnoxiously silent until he worked something out in his head. How had he changed under her nose? How did she not notice that he was slipping away from her?

"Leave," she said.

"I don't really think –"

"I don't feel comfortable with you around right now," she interrupted. She slowly forced herself to look at him and instantly regretted it. Her eyes welled up with tears the moment she saw his face and she looked away.

She watched his feet as he walked back towards the house. She knew that he wouldn't go back to the house. He'd stay out here in the woods as long as she was, but he would give her space. Or at least, she hoped that he would. The old Derek would, she didn't know about this new one.

* * *

><p>She couldn't bring herself to leave the tree that Derek had slammed her against. The solidness against her back rooted her. She replayed it over and over in her mind.<p>

The buzzing her simmered back down to its normal level. She was clutching her necklace – when did she do that? Was it before Derek left or after?

Her face felt wet and she rubbed it. How long had she been crying? She felt disconnected from her body.

She knew that he was out there, watching her. The thought once comforted her. Now it sent chills down her spine.

Could she leave Derek behind? Simply take her aunt and leave in the middle of the night? They might be less inclined to hunt them down. It was Derek who they were really after. If they managed to leave a few days before Malcolm returned, there was a chance that it would … work out.

She swallowed hard.

Chloe never thought that she would be at this impasse. She and Derek had been a team for so long, it was natural that where one went, the other would follow. She never dreamed that they would be torn apart not by others but by a choice one of them made. They weren't a team, not anymore.

It seemed as something that would happen only in a nightmare.

A twig snapped nearby and she glared in its general direction. She waited for him to emerge from the foliage. It wasn't Derek that stepped out. It was a bear.

She watched as it slowly lumbered towards her. She couldn't find her voice to scream. This was it. This was how it was going to end for her. She was going to be mauled by a bear because she had a fight with Derek.

A beam of moonlight hit the bear and she found her voice to let out a gasp. The bear's side was open, intestines slipping out along with a foul stench.

"I … I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she said to the bear.

"Chloe!"

She looked but didn't see anyone.

She heard her name yelled out again.

She found the source of it. It was Liz but it took a moment to realize that she was _inside_ the border constructed by the runes.

"Chloe, you need to get inside, like right now," she yelled, running over to her. Chloe felt a shove from Liz and it snapped her out of her trance.

"Can you tell me what is going on," she gasped out as they were running.

"Bad stuff, serious stuff," Liz replied. Chloe noted that even Liz was panting even though she didn't even need to breathe. "You really shouldn't have summoned that bear."

"I didn't mean to," she replied quietly.

The cabin was in sight now and Liz gave her another push.

"I'm serious, Chloe," Liz said again. "No summoning, _nothing_. If as so much a fly is resurrected, I can't guarantee that I'll get to you in time."

"What are you even talking about?"

"I'll come back once I get everything straight. Right now I have a whole lot of half-truths and speculations. Once I get something concrete, I'll come for you. I know where you are, I should be able to slip past the border again. It probably isn't a good idea for you to leave the house."

"Liz, you don't even know what is going on here. Things are _bad –"_

"I promise you things are a whole lot _worse_ on the other side, trust me." Liz said as she looked around the yard. "Just … try to hang in there the best you can. We can have a proper catch up next time, but I really have to go."

And she vanished, just like that.

Derek came roaring out of the woods. He must have heard her while she was with Liz.

She didn't wait for him.

* * *

><p>Somehow Lauren knew what had happened before Chloe could explain. She wasn't sure if it was written across her face, if the Cains had followed them and reported back and she overheard, or if she could recognize that she was in a bad place. Perhaps Lauren was right; perhaps she had been preparing herself for this day when it would inevitably come.<p>

"We will get out of this," Lauren reassured her, rubbing her back. They were in their room, holed up against the world.

Chloe let out a stifled sob and let the tears fall.

* * *

><p>Lauren was looking at files when Chloe woke.<p>

"Those aren't…" she trailed off, her voice thick with sleep.

"No, these are the files from the first raid. I'm just looking over them, making sure I didn't miss something."

"Like what?"

Lauren sighed. "I'm looking through Derek's file. I'm double checking the werewolf psychological profile we had drawn up. It wasn't of any one specific but more of a general look at their race." She flipped through a few pages, furrowed her brow and muttered something to herself.

Chloe rubbed the sleep from her eyes and then her face. She needed to wake up. She didn't know how much time they had left for their escape – and last night's hurried talk with Liz hit her and she realized that there would be no escape. Liz rarely barked orders at her and last night she was not merely suggesting that she stay inside.

"Werewolves, when they hit a certain age, try to find a group to fit in. Under Pack law, there aren't any official packs, so typically they split off into groups of twos, occasionally threes. There isn't any logical explanation for it. Several of our experts attributed it to them searching for a pack of sorts. Now when that happens, there tends to be a similar structure to a pack. One of them will be the boss and the other or others will follow orders," Lauren explained.

"So you're saying there is a lot of groupthink."

"There is. There is also the fact that what is happening … was inevitable. It was bound to happen eventually. Another werewolf would have tracked him down and made him an offer. He might have refused the first, but according to this," she tapped the page, "it only grows stronger as they age."

"So … he's with them, for life?"

Lauren shrugged. "Their lives typically aren't very long. I imagine disagreements happen. Pairs split off and form new bonds with someone else."

"Not always," Chloe replied. "Ramon didn't. We … ran into him on the way to New York. He was by himself. If he had partnered up with anyone since Liam, he wasn't with them now."

"Reputation matters a lot in their world too," Lauren added. "Derek has one. He might not have wanted one, but he has one first for being a Cain, another for being Zachary Cain's son, and also for what he's _done_."

Murder – it was _self-defense_. She would have died if Derek hadn't. He would have died if he didn't. There wasn't another option on the table. It was no different than what _she_ had done.

"If the Cains know about the experiments, there is a decent chance that others may know as well. You have to take that into consideration as well," Lauren said, returning to her papers.

"I … I saw Liz last night," Chloe said quietly.

Lauren quickly stood and sat down next to her on the bed.

"Good, good," she whispered. "Did you ask her to help us escape?"

"She said I needed to stay here."

"What?"

Chloe nodded. "She said it wasn't safe. She said that … things are bad on the other side. I guess this," she fingered the pendant, "isn't working like it used to."

"I don't understand, why –"

"I don't either. She didn't finish. She popped in, got me back to the house and then left. She told me that if I summoned anything, things would get bad and fast."

"And … she say anything as to why?"

"No."

Lauren sighed. "Then I guess we'll be staying put until we come up with something better."

* * *

><p>Chloe ignored Nate's good intentioned conversation starters at dinner. She found herself sitting next to Carter. She couldn't bring herself to indulge Nate nor could she even think about sitting next to Derek. He had put them all in a spot where they were likely to all be killed without even asking her opinion.<p>

"This spat," Theo said, "it isn't good to ignore such things. Although, if you'd like, once Malcolm returns with the rest of your files and trainer, you're free to go. We won't keep you here any longer than we have to."

"I'll consider it," she said coldly. "I'm finished here," she stood up, her plate barely touched. "If Malcolm returns, knock on my door."

She was halfway up the stairs when Derek caught up with her. She recoiled when he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Chloe, you _can't_ mean what you've said –"

"I was unaware that I wasn't allowed to have my own opinion where my life goes," she said, staring him down. "Let me go."

"Chloe," Derek insisted.

She yanked her arm away and went to her room.

* * *

><p>A rap at the door nearly gave her a heart attack.<p>

Lauren looked at her, neither one of them made a move to open the door. If it was what they both thought it was, it was game over. Time had run out on the clock and they were even more stuck than they were five minutes prior.

"It's Carter. I just want to talk to you for a few moments," he said. After a few moments he added, "Malcolm isn't here."

She opened the door a sliver and saw that Carter was alone. She left the room, closing it quietly behind her. She didn't know why she tried to be quiet. It wasn't as though the rest of the house couldn't hear her.

"Let's take a walk."

* * *

><p>Their walk was less walking and more sitting on the porch. Chloe mentioned that she didn't feel right leaving the house and Carter didn't push the subject matter.<p>

Instead they sat out on the porch in the blistering northern wind.

"What was it that you wanted?"

Carter was squinting. She could barely make out that his eyes were different than the rest. He had the same eyes Keith had, brown eyes instead of some shade of vivid green.

"I just … I just wanted to tell you to be patient. This," he gestured back at the house, "is a lot to take in. Put yourself in Derek's shoes and see if you wouldn't want the same thing."

"I would at least _talk_ to him before signing his life away."

"Yeah, well," he mumbled softly, "I wouldn't be one hundred percent convinced that it's all said and done. I know – when I first met him, I didn't want him to have anything to do with us. It's changed, a _lot_ has changed," he trailed off, letting the words slip away with the wind and into the night.

"I just want you to keep an open mind. Things around here aren't always what they seem to be."

* * *

><p>She ignored Derek for the next few days whenever he tried talking to her. She couldn't talk to him, not yet. She was too angry with him. Despite Carter's attempts of salvaging some good will towards him, she was unmoved.<p>

Lauren was eager to try to find some way. She would periodically ask if Liz had shown up. Chloe didn't dare try summoning her, not after the last time she saw her.

She hated that she couldn't bounce ideas off of Derek. She hated that the reason she couldn't was because Derek had been swept up in some sort of weird werewolf bonding that defied reason.

Her gut told her that whatever came would not be good.

* * *

><p>Keith arrived first. He had several boxes in tow and the guys busied themselves with bringing them inside.<p>

Chloe watched all of this from the living room. No one had asked her to help and she did not volunteer. She had been summoned downstairs shortly before Keith had arrived. Theo wanted her to see everything that they had managed to recover from the St. Cloud cabal.

Once they finished bringing in the last box, she got up and went to grab one to take back upstairs.

"Sorry, these have to stay down here," Keith grinned. "If you want to look at them, you'll need to leave your chamber of solitude."

* * *

><p>Chloe managed to talk Theo into letting them move all the boxes into a spare bedroom downstairs. She had reasoned that by keeping them in a small room, there was less chance of things becoming misplaced or unorganized. Chloe had to concede to keep the door open at all times.<p>

It wasn't ideal, but at least she could turn her back to the room and do her best to ignore the others.

Lauren spent more time than anyone in there. She wanted to verify that these were the original files, not something that they came up with in order to fulfill their end of the bargain.

Chloe wasn't sure what Lauren was rooting for, the files to be true or to be fakes.

She wasn't sure what she was hoping for either.

* * *

><p>"You can't avoid me forever. Training is going to get really intense and you're going to be a part of it," Nate told her after dinner. She ignored him as she gathered up the plates. It was Nate's turn to wash. Before, she would help gather the used dinnerware and keep him company while he washed. Despite her current feelings towards Derek, she didn't want him to find out about their indiscretion.<p>

"I mean it," he whispered. "Things are going to jump up to an eleven now that those files are here."

"My aunt hasn't verified that they're the actual files."

Nate sighed and rolled his eyes. "They're the legitimate thing. No way would Grandaddy let something like that fly, not when it's as important as this. He wants Derek to be here. Derek wants to be here. You can be here with him, there isn't anybody standing in the way."

Chloe glared at him, dumping a pile of plates on the counter.

"Really, no one? I can think of at _two_, off the top of my head. There is no way that I'd be able to live with them nearby. This is, you know, assuming that they don't get us all killed with that idiotic plan with the Pack."

Nate started working on the dishes.

"Everything will work out. Everything will. Something this big, this … the Pack has run the world for far too long without any challengers. History will be made. Don't you want to be a part of it?"

"I'm not a werewolf. Up until when you _kidnapped us_, Derek had _never_ had a civil conversation with one. Now he's drinking whatever Kool-Aid you're selling and you're expecting me to shut up and go along with it."

Nate turned to her and grinned. "I'm not. I know that you're not that type of person. I expect that you have several ideas floating around that noggin on how to escape or find a loophole to get out of one of your deals you made with Malcolm."

Chloe finished gathering the glasses and started out the door.

"If you're going to find one," he called out to her, "it needs to be soon."

* * *

><p>Chloe tried her best to ignore the painful groan of flesh meeting flesh. Malcolm was here watching the training today. He had brought along Keith. It was the first time Keith had seen Derek in the field, so to speak, and he did not seem pleased. He tried whispering something to Malcolm several times but each time Malcolm shut him down.<p>

It made her uneasy. She had never seen Malcolm do that to Keith, nor see Keith try to interject his own opinion on something. His usual spiel was just Malcolm's words.

It did strike her odd that someone like Keith could be related to the rest of the Cains. The others never seemed particularly ambitious. She gathered that most of them simply wanted to be left alone and that going against the Pack was going to be the way to ensure that they could continue being left alone for good. Nate had told her about how they were constantly on the move, moving from state to state, sometimes even moving under the cover of darkness. She empathized with wanting a permanent, stable home, but she could not get behind going up against the Pack to do it. There surely had to be some way that they could settle and the Pack wouldn't notice.

Theo explained to her that they had tried that. The Pack still found them. He explained that the Pack keeps track of all mutts and of their locations. If they sent someone to check on the Cains and found that they were still in the same place? The Pack viewed it as the Cains taking territory. Only the Pack was allowed to have territory. It had been Pack law for countless of generations now. Theo wasn't sure exactly how long it was, but as far back as he could trace back through the written accounts of previous Cains, they had never been Pack. They had always been mutts.

Chloe still thought there was a better way. Theo knew that he wasn't going to convince her of anything and that it ultimately didn't matter. He didn't need her to be on board with the plan. He only needed Derek.

A yell snapped her back into the present day. Derek had immobilized Carter and had now shifted his attention to solely Nate. She wasn't sure what she wanted to happen. If she could vanish into a wisp of smoke, that would be a nice alternative.

Instead she forced herself to watch. She noticed the small things now. Derek still fought the same, but he had made minor adjustments. He was able to read his opponents better. He was better at dodging and taking blows. They were minor, detail oriented things that gave him the overall advantage.

If he could make this much progress in the time that they had spent here, what would have he been like if he had a proper instructor back in Badger Lake? Or what if the Cains had managed to steal him away the first time when he was sixteen?

She had drifted off, lost in her thoughts again. Derek was now standing in front of her. He had a gash on his right arm. It didn't look serious but it probably needed stitches. She looked over to the observers. Malcolm and Theo were talking quietly. Keith was watching her, smiling.

"Chloe, we really need to talk about a few things," Derek said quietly.

She finally found the strength to lift her eyes up to his. "A little bit late for that, isn't it?"

Derek cast a look over his shoulder. Carter was helping Nate off the ground. Neither looked too battered but with time, they would all have various bruises.

"It's about the files."

* * *

><p>Chloe sat in the designated room. She and Lauren were waiting for Derek to finish his quick shower so that they could talk about whatever he had managed to find in the files.<p>

He strode in silently. Chloe didn't even know he was there until he picked up a binder and started flipping through it.

"Lauren, could you read this passage here? Is it really the original?"

Lauren took the binder from him and retreated to the opposite side of the room. Chloe wasn't sure why Lauren was giving him such a wide berth. She thought she would have been happy with Derek's behavior lately. There was a large wedge between them and it was looking like they were going to have to split up. It was everything that Lauren had been wanting for years.

Chloe looked over at him. She wasn't aware that he had spent more time reading. She thought he would have been too busy being with his own _kind_. The surprise made her smile a little. Perhaps he wasn't as far gone as she had written him off.

Lauren started reading but before she could even finish the page, Theo popped his head in.

"Just put a pause on that," he said, "and come out into the living room. There is something that we all need to get over with. Chloe, Derek, follow me."

Chloe looked over at Derek who shrugged. He followed Theo and waited at the door for her to follow him. She begrudgingly stood up and walked out into the living room.

Keith and Malcolm weren't there, neither was Carter or Nate.

Theo left them alone for a moment. Derek offered his hand but she did not take it. Derek left it there, sitting beside her.

Keith and Malcom came in through the door, carrying a large burlap sack between them. Chloe's stomach sunk when she realized it was the same size of bag that they used when they brought Lauren here. It looked as though they had brought someone else into this mess as well.

"Now, before we all introduce ourselves," Malcolm said as Keith took over the bag and laid it on the floor. "I want to refresh everyone's memory of the deal we made. I got you not only the files the Nasts had but the ones the St. Cloud cabal did not turn over. In return, Derek was trained under my supervision and Chloe would receive training. In addition to this, Derek has also agreed to join me as we set out to right the wrongs that have been done to us."

Malcolm strode over to the bag and began loosening one tied end.

"Now, you're both fairly intelligent creatures. You probably already figured out that this is Chloe's trainer. _I_ keep my word," he muttered. He looked up at Chloe and Derek.

"And you will find that not only was I able to find a trainer, I was able to find one that while … not particularly powerful, at least has the knowledge necessary for you, Chloe. It was really an all-in-one package, really. She has the knowledge, she's the necromancer representative on the council, and she just so happens to be the partner of one of the werewolves at Stonehaven."

Malcolm finished opening the bag. Chloe couldn't see her face but could see that she had red hair. She found Derek's hand and took it without thinking.

"Chloe, meet Jaime Vegas."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This is the end of _Promises Made_ but not the end of the story. I've been at work on the sequel for a while and ... well, simply put, the story became too big. I'm currently working on chapter nine of the next story and we're barely really getting into its main arc. I didn't want this to become a big conglomerate of everything, so I picked where thematically it made sense to end.

The next installment, _Oaths Sworn_ will be uploaded in two weeks. It looks like I'm adopting an upload for _Oaths _on the second/fourth weeks and updating my _Bitten_ story on the first/third weeks on Fridays. As usual, drabbles for the first ten reviewers. Drabbles for OS will be uploaded as part of _Tales_. I may skip my usual DP update week in two weeks to give me a little more time to get further ahead with OS (meaning it'll be 4 weeks to the first chapter of OS), but we will see. I will at least upload the drabbles for the last chapter of PM two weeks from now.

Haven't watched _Bitten_? You should! You get to see Derek's dad and I'm just really happy with how they have handled his character in season one and I'm looking forward to seeing what they have in store for season two.

A huge thanks for everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this story! I hope you enjoyed it. Likewise reviewers, I hope that you all have enjoyed your drabbles.

Speaking of - just another reminder about drabbles! Be the part of the first ten and have a drabble of your choice! Need some Chlerk fluff to balance out all of the angst I typically dish out? All you have to do is review. :)

Another short reminder about the forum for Atoning! You can find it in the DP forum list under 'Atoning' or use the link in my profile. We are due for a new chapter in a few days! Kelley has been putting them up a day or two early, so be sure to be on the watch for it. I'll post a new thread for the chapter once I've finished reading it and I hope to hear your thoughts on it!


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